Remnants of a Friend
by Archangel Writings
Summary: "We've found him." With three simple words, two parents rush to the hospital to see their lost son again after three and a half years. Three and a half years…that's a long time to be held by a group who just wanted to cause pain. Davian Kadar is home, but will he be able to fight his way back to the person he was? Or will he forever fall due to his greatest secret.
1. Prologue

**Character Bio:**

 **Name –** Davian (Davin) Kadar

 **Age –** 14 ½ at time of appearance

 **Age –** 18 when found again

 **Race –** Faunus (Wolf), Male

 **Hair Color – Silverish Grey (Originally Black)**

 **Hair Style -** Cut short on sides and slightly longer on top. The hair above forehead is styled up. (Alistair from Dragon Age)

 **Eye Color –** Sapphire Blue (Crimson when truly pissed)

 **Complexion –** Slightly Tanned

 **Physic –** Lean, but muscular

 **Semblance –** Short range telaportation (About 20 feet range)

 **Aura Color –** Grey (Black when truly pissed)

 **Semblance Manifestation –** A slow dissipating thick mist (Mist turns black with the wisps being crimson)

 **Kidnapping Case Final Report –** Davian Kadar, only child to John and Sianna Kadar, were all part of the White Fang before the reform. Mr. and Mrs. Kadar payed for their son (11 ½ at the time) to fly to Vale and attend Signal Academy with room and board, planning to join him when possible. Davian befriended the Xiao-Long family and moved in with them when Mr. Xiao-Long offered to house him so his parents could come quicker. Davian stayed at the Xiao-Long residence and grew close to the family, especially Mr. Xiao-Long's daughters

Yang Xiao-Long and Ruby Rose.

When Davian Kadar was 14 ½ , he and Ms. Xiao-Long were preparing for a combat evaluation at Signal Academy in a clearing behind the Xiao-Long residence. According the Ms. Xiao-Long (the only eye witness present at the crime) when she and Mr. Kadar were taking a break, some men in White Fang uniforms approached them, demanding for Mr. Kadar to come with them. He refused, resulting in the Fang attacking. After Mr. Kadar took a hit for Ms. Xiao-Long, she was distracted and was held hostage by the leader of the group. He threatened her, which forced Mr. Kadar into dropping his weapon and being knocked out. The Fang hit Ms. Xiao-Long in the head, knocking her unconscious. Mr. Xiao-Long found his daughter two hours later and brought her back to their house. He went searching for Mr. Kadar after calling the police, but turned up nothing. Sadly ,Davian Kadar was never found and is presumed dead.

 **Hey guys and gals, thank you for taking the time to read my intro to "Remnants of a Friend". As you might of noticed, this is my first story, so any criticism is welcome. Thank you and enjoy reading.**

 **Prologue (3** **rd** **Person)**

"We found him."

With those three simple words, two people get in their car and rush to the hospital. Someone had found him, their child, after three and a half years of being missing. They found him. John and Sianna Kadar rush into the recovery wing of the hospital and found the nearest doctor.

"Where's our son!" John quickly asked the doctor. The doctor, shocked from the sudden spin, collected himself.

"I'm going to need more information than that sir."

"His name is Davian Kadar, he has black hair, and blue eyes. He went missing three and a half-"

Putting a hand on his shoulder to steady the babbling man, "Sir, sir, please slow down, yes I know who you're taking about, please follow me." The doctor turned around and walked down the hallway to a door with a window to see into the room and regarded the anxious couple behind him. "Ok, please allow me to give you the details before you go rushing in. He was found on the edge of the city unconscious and his body was showing signs of traveling a large distance on foot very quickly. Scars cover about forty percent of his body and his hair has changed from black to gray. The good news is that any injures he sustained have completely healed an is free to go. The bad news is that...judging from the scars, he most likely won't be the same person you remember." Letting that sink in, the doctor excused himself to go attend to his other patients.

 **(1** **st** **Person)**

 **"** Everything is different. Not different like you just got back home after being gone for a decade, it just...feels different." Thinking to myself I look out of the window of my room, all I see are shady corners and dark allies, as if I'm constantly checking for danger. I guess I have a right to, after all, my life has been hell for the last however long its been.

"Davian?" Turning around at the sound of a voice I haven't heard in a long time, I find my parents standing in the doorway with tears in their eyes. They rush forward and we hug for the first time in years, my mother on my right and my father on my left. My family.

Looking down, I realize how much taller I am than my mother and father, six and four inches respectively. By now, I can feel my shoulders getting damp from my parents tears, overjoyed to have me back. I take a half step back and look at them with tired eyes.

"Can we go home?" They look at me with uncertainty, unsure in I'm really ready to leave the hospital. Eventually nodding their heads, the three of us leave, a family again. By the time we're walking out to the car, the sun is barely peaking over the horizon, bathing the sky in purple and... "In gold" I whisper to myself, old wounds resurfacing. We get into the car and drive off towards home.

Sitting in the back seat, all I can think about is who I've lost. My two best friends, killed. Yang's joking attitude, Ruby's adorable smile, all gone. Killed by the bastards that took me. Turning my head towards the window so mom and dad don't see, I silently weep.

We pull up to the house and stop the car before I realize we were home. Wiping the tears from my eyes and face, I put on the blank look I had perfected over the years and get our of the car. Walking towards the front door, I realize my parents are keeping a few feet between us. As if their preparing for something to come rushing at me. Stepping up to the front door, I hear the very familiar sound of someone squeaking with excitement and someone shushing her, but...that cant' be possible, they're gone. Confused, I open the door and step into the foyer and look around to find...nothing. Sighing, I mentally kick myself for getting my hopes- "OOF!"

"DAVIAN!" Looking down, I see a little red ball of joy squeezing my lower torso. That's all I'm able to figure out before I'm forcibly spun around to be bear hugged by a sobbing-

"Yang?" That's all I'm able to comprehend. Yang and Ruby, safe, alive. "H-how are you two-?" I don't care, I don't care how it's possible, I don't care what bullshit the Fang pulled to make me see what I saw. I don't care. I pull Ruby and Yang into a hug, "I'm home" I say to them, smiling for the first time in years.

 **That concludes my first chapter, hope you enjoyed reading it. If you have any commits I'll try my best to respond next chapter. I'm still learning how to use the site, so I'll try my best. See all of ya later**

 **Archangel Out-**


	2. Chapter 1 - First Day Back

**Hey guys and gals, I'm back for the first chapter of "Remnants of a Friend" and would like to say thank-you to anyone who took the time to read my story.**

 **IMPORTANT** **– Please read the author note at the bottom of page when done reading.**

 _ **-][- = Line/Scene Break**_

 _ **(Italics means dream or flashback)**_

 **Disclaimer – I don't own anything from the story except for my character Davian Kadar.**

After Yang and Ruby left, promising to be back tomorrow morning, I went upstairs to check my room. Not a thing had changed. Everything in my room is, for the most part, how I left it. Excluding the thick layer of dust on everything of course. I walk over to my desk and just took in how much I've changed. My complete weapon blueprints, a sword sharpener and cleaning kit, school-work, and other odds n' ends.

I sigh, not even sure if the life of a Hunter was for me anymore. As I'm in deep thought, my eyes wonder a picture that reminded me of why I was training to become a Huntsman. The photo showed Yang, Ruby, and I standing in the clearing one year prior to my disappearance. Yang and I were standing shoulder to shoulder with Ruby sitting in between our heads with big smile on all of our faces. That's the biggest change, while Ruby and Yang may not be any different, I sure have.

Shaking my head, I turn around and walk back downstairs to sleep due to my room not being ready for use. As I passed into the living room, I saw a pile of clothes and toiletries on the couch with a blanket and two pillows. I grab the toiletries and the sleeping clothes and get ready for bed.

Before I can crawl into bed I hear someone on the back porch through the glass door in the living room. Glancing out, I find my father sitting there just, staring into the forest. As I turn around to give my father some privacy, I hear him call out, "Davian." I turn back around at the sound of my name I see my father looking at me with a look of regret, "can we talk for a few minuets?" Stepping out into the cool night air, I close the sliding door behind me and sit down next to him. We just sit their staring off into the distance, "I'm sorry." Turning my head to look at my father in the eyes, all I see are tears, "It's our fault you were taken by the Fang, if we had just stood our ground-"

"No" I say in a firm voice, "it's not your fault and you and mom did the right thing. The Fang would of executed both of you and would of come for me anyways." I sighed as I leaned back into my chair, "Everyone in the Fang were angry and looking for a fight. And while many would of saw you standing your ground as brave, many more would not care and even would've taken glee in the punishment you two would revive. I don't blame you and mom for anything and I'm not angry and anyone except for the Fang. Alright, I..don't..blame..you," reaching over I give him a firm hug. He hugs back and we stay like that for a few minuets.

Unlatching himself from the hug, my father looks at me with a smile and a look of relief, "You should go get some sleep, if I know Yang and Ruby you're going to need it tomorrow with what they have planned, good-night." Nodding my head, I say night and we head back inside to go to bed.

I lay down on the couch and try to sleep, emphasis on the try. By the time I had been held for a week, I never slept for more than three hours a night at most. Now whether that was do to being woken up by the captors or by nightmares was a coin toss. At least now I don't jump up in a panic, I just wake up sweating and breathing heavy. After an hour or so of starring at the ceiling, I felt my eyes droop as sleep over took me.

-][-

 _Pain; Pain from burns, stabs, cuts, and punches, that's all I felt anymore. Any other feelings had been beaten out of me by now. At first I fought, but that had been taken from me as well. After watching two of the most important people in my life being taken from me, I could no longer fight. It was all gone. Probably what they wanted –_ Waking quickly, I take in my surroundings in a process I'd perfected over the years. Threat assessment, escape rout, then chances of success, in that order. I sigh as I remember I was safe. Rubbing my face, I get up and get dressed before walking out onto the front porch to sit the rest of the morning hours. With the sun barely rising I think about the coming hours. "Probably going to involve a lot of walking around town so I can see whats changed. Humph, definitely doesn't sound so bad. Though with Ruby and Yang, I guess they could have anything planned from getting ice cream to sky diving, you could never tell with those two." As I was trying to prepare myself for whatever was coming, I looked up at the sound of a engine approaching the house. When it comes into view, I see Yang on a motorcycle she didn't have when I was still here. She pulls into the driveway not seeing me sitting there and hops off to check something on her bike. While she distracted I walk up behind her and lean in close to her ear "When did you get that death trap" I say, deciding to give humor a try after so long, putting on a small grin.

Yang yelped in surprise, not expecting me to be right there. Quickly hopping to her feet, she gives me a grin gave me a hug. She looks up smirking, "Ready for today? We're going to wear you out." I nod my head and lead her back to the couch on the porch to sit.

"As ready as I'll ever be" I say chuckling, turning towards her bike, "though if I remember you and Ruby correctly, then it won't matter if I'm ready or not. I'm going to be exhausted after doing what you to might have planned." Nodding towards her bike, "So like I said, when did you get that deathtrap?" I wait a few seconds for an answer, but when I don't hear one I look back at Yang to see her starring at my face, or more specifically, the scar marring it. Realizing that she was caught starring, Yang quickly looked away with a look of shame. Putting a hand on her shoulder I get her attention, "Yang, Yang please look at me."

She finally looked up at me guiltily and runs her finger over the scar, "It's my fault," she says on the verge of tears, "If I was wasn't such a go-happy brawler you wouldn't of had to take that hit for me, and because of my mistake you were captured." Finally breaking down into tears, she let out what had been eating away at her for years.

I don't say anything as I let her cry on my shoulder and let it all out. After a few minutes, her crying had diminished into small, dry sobs. Pushing her back so I could look her in the eyes, I make sure my face is one of softness, "Yang, I don't blame you for what happened at all. It wouldn't of mattered if you were grabbed or not, it's probably better you were. If you weren't grabbed and we had continued fighting, they would of overwhelmed us eventually. That would only of ended up with you dead and me being taken anyways. The leader of the group was no

push-over and was way above our skill level at the time."

By now Yang was looking at her feet, processing what I said. I, fully knowing she would still blame herself no matter what I said, lightly pulled her chin so she'd look at me again, "Last night, I was about to go bed when I heard someone on the back porch. When I looked out I found my dad just sitting their staring at the forest." Yang, with full attention, dried her eyes to listen, "He and mom had done the same thing you're doing now. Blaming themselves for something they couldn't control. It's the worst thing anyone can do in this situation, what happened happened, nothing is going to change that. There's only one group of people I blame for what I went through and that's the current White Fang, no one else, and no one else but them hold that blame. Okay?" She stares at me for several seconds before nodding her head. Once her eyes were dried, Yang gets up and hugs me again. Once I was sure she was better, I walked us over to her motorcycle, "Now, why don't you show me your bike," I say with a small smile.

With a smile splitting her face, Yang pats her "baby" and commences to fan girl over every detail of the thing ranging from the parts she used to the name she gave it, "Bumblebee". "It's my favorite possession minus my hair" she exclaims. We continue to talk about this and that until the rest of Yang's and my family shows up.

Ruby, ever excited, rushes over and jumps into a hyper-speed run down of what they had planned for today. "Wearegoingtohavesomuchfun! Wearegoingtogoshoppingandeatandjustseewhatthereistodoaroundtown!" With the biggest smile I've ever seen her make ,she continues on with her explanation.

I look up at Taiyang with raised eyebrows while he shrugged, "She's literally been bouncing off the walls the entire morning. If fact I'm surprised she didn't use her semblance to get her faster."

Ruffling her hair, I put a hand over her mouth to stop her motormouth. "I'm sure it's going to be fun Ruby, why don't we get going before you pass out from lack of oxygen." Literally shaking with excitement, she uses her speed to drag everyone over to the car her family brought that could hold all of us and practically throws everyone in before they could figure out what was going on. Sitting in the back seat with Ruby next to me and Yang next to her, I just sat there, trying to figure out how I got inside the car so fast while everyone is completely calm, acting as if it was completely normal for a fourteen year old girl to be able to move people twice her size at such a great speed.

Stepping out of the car, I find myself in the middle of downtown Vale. Taking a few seconds to take it all in, I just stand there and look at how everything compares to how I saw it last. Besides some new buildings and stories, it's exactly how I remember it. People bustling to and fro, moving on with their day of shopping, working, or playing. Ruby, with an air of pure energy, announces that it's time to go. We all start walking toward a department store so we could do "a little clothes shopping". Needless to say, we were their awhile. I got what I needed pretty quickly while the girls rush back and forth, asking what I thought, then completely dismissing the opinion, as girls do when they as a boy for fashion opinions. After two and a half hours of shopping, we drop our bags off at the car and go to find a restaurant.

After looking at a few options, Tai offers to let me pick since it's been awhile since I had the ability to. Thinking back to the foods I used to love, I pick a Italian restaurant that looks relatively new and we all walk in to eat. Or at least try to, not three feet into the restaurant we're being yelled at by the staff, "We don't serve faunus, you're going to have to leave." While everyone else is appalled by the staff, as well as a few of the customers, I just shrug, turn around and walk out.

After a block or so, I glanced ahead of me and saw the adults with a look of guilt while Yang and Ruby looked like they were seconds away from running back and beating the crap out of the staff. While it did hurt, I'm used to being looked down upon as a result of the last couple years, "I'm sorry, bad choice I guess. You guys go ahead and choose something, I really don't care and I'm sure it'll all taste good." My parents, unsure if I was really unaffected or not, just suggest another Italian restaurant down the block.

When we get about half way there, Yang falls back to where I'm am, "You sure you're ok?"

I look over at her and nod my head, "It's fine Yang, faunus were always treated like that even before I disappeared and I didn't expect that to change in this short of time. I'm used to it, don't worry about me." By now we've reached the restaurant and for the next hour and a half we all eat and laugh, the previous incident forgotten. During dessert, I ask something that I've been wondering since I got back. "Hey Yang, did you continue at Signal afterwords?"

Swallowing her bite, she nods her head, "Yeah, after what happened I just thought it would have been a good way to remember you ya know. After all the work we put into it, I just didn't think it would've been a good idea to quit." Nodding my head in understanding, she continued, "I'm in my last year at Signal now and I'm waiting to hear back if I got into Beacon or not."

"Appreciate it," looking over to my right "what about you Ruby? You said you wanted to go to Signal as well." Looking up from the cookies she'd been inhaling with a twinkle in her eye, I brace myself for another speedy explanation.

"I forgot to tell you! I'm two years behind Yang now and I'm one of the best in my class and - I FORGOT TO SHOW YOU HER!" After yelling that to the heavens, she quickly pulled out her scroll and brought up some blueprints of her "sweetheart" and hands the scroll to me. Three seconds is all it takes before my eyes widen at the thought of this little speed demon having a six foot high impact sniper scythe.

Looking up at Yang in mock horror, "How could you let her build something like that!?" Yang burst into snickers while Ruby giggles behind a hand. Letting a smile settle on my face, I suddenly think of something. Looking over to my parents, "Speaking of weapons, was my sword recovered or was it taken to?"

Looking at each other with a odd look, my mother look back to me, "It's back at the house in your closet, but why do you want it.?"

Guessing at what I was thinking, my father got worried, "You want to continue at being a Huntsman, don't you" he posed it as a statement, not as a question. I bite my lower lip as I stare into the checkered tablecloth. I eventually look up and can see the worry Mom, Tai, Ruby, and especially Yang showed on their faces. Dad, oddly enough, just looked...resigned.

"Davian, after what happened, you have every right in the world to take as much time as you need to...just, you don't have to do anything like that anymore" mom says, almost pleading.

I sigh, realizing my bad timing, "Mom, can we just...talk about it later. Please." After a few seconds, she nods her head, we return to our food for a few awkward minutes.

"I apologize, but Ruby and Yang need to get back home to finish their school work" Taiyang says, startling us.

"Awwwww" Ruby wines, wanting to spend more time with me before the weekend was up.

Ruffling her hair, "Don't worry Ruby, I'll see if I can stop by tomorrow after you get home and you can show me your weapon" I say to reassure her, already feeling Yang's worried stare.

Ruby gives me a pout with crossed arms "Fine...you promise?"

"Promise" I say, giving her a small smile.

Standing in my room, I look at the weapon that I spent weeks planning with Yang. "Never did finish it, only got the sword done." Alone, it didn't look like much. The blade had a double edge that was twenty-eight inches with a blood channel running down the entire length. The hilt wasn't anything extravagant. The grip was rapped in black leather with not hand guard due to another extendable blade that can come out of the bottom of handle that extends another twenty-eight inches, but it's not designed to extend unless it's sheathed. Like I said, never got around to finishing the last two parts of my weapon.

"Davian, can we talk to you?" Turning around, I find mom and dad standing in my doorway. Remembering the silent drive on the way back home, I nod my head and head down to the living room, steeling myself for a heated conversation. Sitting down on a chair across from my parents on the couch, I keep my gaze on the carpet.

"Davian...why do you want to continue on that path after what happened?" Looking up to my mother and father at the question, I see them with worried and anxious looks. Looking back down, I just continue to stare at the floor. "Davian please, we just want you to be safe and-" 

"Being safe isn't my priority anymore." I say flatly, still looking down. My parents are silent, allowing me to continue. "I don't care if I deserve to be safe because of the last three years. I don't...I don't want the knowledge of what I went through to automatically make it so I can take the easy path whenever I want. I blame VERY few people for what happened to me. I don't blame you, Yang, even the Fang. I saw the disgust on the faces of the common member, not directed at me, but to my captors." By now, my parents are in tears, and I haven't even said what was done to me. I look up and meet their gaze as I continued, "You don't know what they did to me, and I'm not talking about physically. I cannot allow Ruby and Yang to go off as Huntresses alone, I have to be there to protect them. If I'm not, and they're hurt...I'd never be able to live with myself, knowing that if I hadn't of chosen the comfortable path, then they might have been alright." My parents just sit their in silence. Getting up, I walk over and hug them tight. We just kneel their for who knows how long.

After a long silence, my father pushes me to arms length, and looks at me with sadness and regret, but also respect, "While I will always worry for you, I can't be upset at you for your reasons. While I know you are going to protect not only Ruby and Yang, but all of Remnant, just promise your mother and I that you will be careful and will do your best to come back to us. If you are gone, you will be mourned by not only us, but by Yang and Ruby as well. They both care for you as much as we do, especially Yang."

Pulling them into a hug again, "I promise you, I will do all in my power to come home."

 **Hey guys, sorry for the week-long wait on the first chapter of my story. So the important message I wanted to tell you guys is about the length of the chapters as well as the update rate on the story.**

 **Upload Rate - While I am finding that I love to write these stories, I must say that school comes first for me. As a result, the rate at which I post is going to vary. I do hand write the story while I'm at school and type for and hour or two at home if I have a exponential amount of free-time, so I am writing. But there are going to be periods of time like the past week when I don't have much time at all. So when that happens, I must ingrain myself into my school-work, at which the uploads are going to slow.**

 **Length of Chapters – As to the length of the chapters, that's going to vary as well. I will try to make them as long as I can, but if I feel like I found a good ending, I'll cut it there. So this will also affect the upload of the next chapter, the shorter the chapter, the faster I'll have the next one out and vise versa.**

 **Anyways, thanks for reading guys, hope you enjoyed and I'll get the next chapter to you guys as soon as possible.**

 **Archangel Out...**


	3. Chapter 2 - Getting Back To It

**Hey everyone, I'm back for chapter two of "Remnants of a Friend". I'm excited and a little nervous to tell that you're going to be able to see Davian in a bit of action today. Just take into account that this my first time writing a fight scene and that it's not suppose to be a big fight. More like a test to see how I do. So don't forget to let me know how I do in the review section along with another comments about my story, good or bad. Let's have at it...**

The following morning, my eyes shoot open and quickly took in my surroundings just like I had done previous nights. I slightly turned my head and saw it was only three in the morning. I sighed as I wondered what I'm going to do for the day while I wait to go see Ruby and Yang after they get out of Signal. "Hm, Signal. Haven't seen it for a while. Yang and I would always meet at her house then walk to school every morning." I think about that for a few more seconds before deciding on my course of action. I sat up and stretched, causing my back to pop and rolled my neck to work out any kinks I had. Sighing again, I got up and dressed in an outfit I bought the other day. It consists of jeans, a plain gray t-shirt worn under a long sleeved white button up with a dark blue plaid style that would cover the scars on my arms as well. Leaving a note on the counter about where I was going, I grabbed an apple, laced up my boots and I set out for Yang's home. At the leisurely pace I was taking, my walk took me about an hour and a half through bits of forest and Vale. I enjoyed the quiet solitude that was so different from what I had been subjugated to for the past three years. Before even realizing it, I found myself walking across the lawn heading for the front porch of Yang's house just as the sun started peaking over the horizon.

I glance on my watch finding it to be about fifteen minutes before six. Deciding it was to early, I sat on the front steps. "Wonder if Yang and Ruby still walk to Signal or if Tiayang takes them now? Or I guess Yang could take Bumblebee while Ruby uses her semblance to keep up, seems like something they'd do." I think to myself. Hearing an alarm go off, I know it's 6:00 A.M. if Yang hasn't changed her scheduled. Knowing they'll be setting out in about two hours, I just sit and wonder what my class mates at Signal had fared these last couple of years. Most I didn't even interact with or didn't care, but some like Velvet Scarlatina, a rabbit faunus a year ahead of Yang and I was nice. Maybe a little shy as a result of bullying, but a good person at heart. On the other hand, I could go without seeing Winchester again, racist asshole.

Hearing the door open, I turn to find Yang and Ruby standing there, "Davian, what are you doing here?"

Standing up, I say "Thought I'd walk with you to Signal for old times sake," that made her and Ruby smile because I remembered something like that. "Plus" I said, "I'd like to look around Signal again, and if its ok with you guys, maybe even sit in with you for a class or two."

Ruby jumped with excitement clapping her hands while Yang smiled widely, "Sounds great," then her smile fell, "but I don't think you'll be able sit in. Remember they don't let people stay while they teach."

We began the twenty minute walk as I responded, "You two forgot what today is didn't you? It's Visitation day at Signal. As some students take a look at the school, any family or family friends are allowed to sit in with their representative and ask the teacher questions." The girls eyes went wide, apparently having forgotten what day of the month it was. Quickly agreeing, Yang launched into a detailed description of what they were doing in school currently. The more I listened, the more I realized how much work I had to do. But there were also several things I was certain I'd excel at, like combat and strategies. Everything else I could pick up later down the road. We talked the entire way to Signal about random topics to school subjects. Pretty soon, Signal came into view. Time to face the music, lets see how far behind I am.

-][-

We walked in the front doors of the school and I found everything to be exactly how it was before I left. Underclassmen rushing about either trying to get to class on time or trying to find whoever came to watch them today. Whereas the upperclassmen are calmly going to and fro. Following Yang and Ruby to their first class, we walk in, and I find that it's their combat theory class. Basically strategy and how to apply it while in combat. I take a seat with the other visitors while the girls go take their seats. Everyone just talks for a few minutes until a young man of about twenty two walks in and greets the class as well as everyone else in the room.

Not seeming to be bothered by the extra bodies in his class, he launches into the strategies the kids have been learning about in history as well as the few he has learned for himself. After this, he turned to the visiting crowd and explained that he was going to pose scenarios and have groups of four come up with a strategy on how to get out with minimal damage and/or casualties.

Deciding this would be a good opportunity to find how I do against the other students, I formed my own in my head while the groups work together. I listen closely as the teacher proposed the first scenario, "All right, lets start with a simple one. You are stranded out in a forest you know is inhabited by Grimm with no supplies except for your weapon and the clothes on your back. How do you survive until morning where you'll be picked up. Go."

Everyone pairs up into groups of four and start discussing different ways to survive the night. All the while, I'm currently figuring through it myself. "Alone in a Grimm infested forest with no supplies except for my blade. Assuming I'm not to terribly injured, I look for the tallest tree I can find and camp out until morning. The only thing that might give me away would be my scent. While it alone won't alert the Grimm to my presence, they'll be on the alert while passing through the area. Yeah, camp out in a tall tree and remain silent. Now, if I am injured and theirs blood, I would need to spread a bit of it in the surrounding area before stopping the bleeding, that way the Grimm won't be able to pinpoint me by the bloods scent alone."

By now, the kids are done strategizing and begin offering their idea to the class. Unsurprisingly, since it was an easy scenario, most of the answers were similar to mine. The teacher gives two slightly more difficult scenarios. For the most part, I'm keeping up with the head of the pack when it comes to strategies.

At the half-way mark of the class, the teacher throws his students and curve ball. "You and your team are being chased by enemies, take your pick of who they are, one of you is seriously wounded and is slowing you down enough that you will be caught within the hour. What do you do?"

I start the process I did with the other three, I analyzed what I knew. You and your team are being chased by any enemy I choose. I furrow my brows, why leave that up to interpretation, it's a vital piece of information? One of you team mates is heavily wounded, so bad that you will be caught in minutes. You can't split up, the enemy will split up as well if their great in numbers, and if their few, or even one, that means that they're better then you team. He or it will just hunt you down individually. Same with pairs, but if you stick together like you are, you'll be caught." Not realizing the teacher had been keeping an eye on me for the whole class, I continue my inner monologue. "The only way to get away alive would be...bait." Looking up at the teacher, I realize what he's trying to teach us. Sacrifice.

Nodding his head as if he knows what I'm thinking, he lets me know I reached the correct conclusion. I lean back and contemplate that choice. Sacrifice, it's a ugly answer to a difficult situation. Even if the person willingly does it, the others must live their life knowing that their alive and that persons not. It's not pleasant, never is and never will be. I look over to Yang and Ruby's group and see that they can't seem to find a way to get everyone out alive. A sacrifice not even coming to their minds. Looking around, I find the whole class is in a similar predicament. Every one of them refuses to even think about leaving someone behind.

Hearing footsteps coming towards me from my right, I look over to find the teacher standing there, "You look like you're taking the class, not watching like the other visitors."

Standing up to shake his hand, "Yeah, I use to go here but I've been away for a while. So I just come with some friends to see how well I can still keep up with them."

Looking at me straight in the eyes, "I'd say you're doing fine, if not better then them. Precious few understand the situation or refuse to understand it when I present the scenario. I know it's not a pretty picture, but-"

Interrupting him I say, "They have to know what they're getting into. The life of a hunter or huntress my seem exciting or romantic, and while it may be at times, most of the time life is going to show you that it likes to kick you in the teeth."

Giving me a good look, taking in the scar on my face and the understanding of the situation, he asks, "How long ago did you go here, you don't look any older than this years class of seniors."

First looking over to Yang and Ruby, still trying to figure out the situation, I look back at him answering "I went here about three and a half years ago before I left. Not my choice to leave, but I had to." Nodding his head, he bows his head a bit thanking me for the conversation. He then goes up to the front of the class, telling everyone to think about the scenario over the day and to bring an answer tomorrow. Everyone left silently or still discussing the topic. The girls threw possibilities back and fourth all the way to their next class and throughout the day up until the last class where they decided to come back to it after getting home.

Walking into their final class which was combat class, I was intrigued to see how Yang and Ruby were coming along. Ruby bounces up to me really excited, "Now I can show you Crescent Rose! You're going to think she's SOOOOOO cool!" Rushing off before I can answer, Yang just sighs with a smile on her face and excuses herself to go get Ember Celica. Taking a seat in the stands, I wait for everything to start. After a few minutes, a battle scared man walks out into the center of the arena and introduces himself as Mr. Clancy.

"Welcome ladies and gentleman, I've had the opportunity to hone your children and friends combat skills for the years I've had them" he said with a booming voice that had a slight Nordic accent. I look across the arena and saw the students sitting on the opposite side of the room, probably so they could get down to the arena as fast as possible. Quickly finding Yang and Ruby by Yang's main of yellow hair, I see them waving at me with smiles on their faces. Waving back at them, I turn my attention back to the instructor as he called up someone who's name I didn't catch and Ruby. Before I can look back up at the girls, Ruby appears in a swirl of rose petals, as happy as can be. Another boy whose weapon I couldn't see yet came down and nodded to Ruby with a smirk on his face.

With the blow of a buzzer, Ruby disappears in a swirl of petals again, reappeared behind the boy swing her scythe in a upwards swing only to be blocked by a double headed spear. Raising an eyebrow at the odd weapon the boy carried, I try to figure out how the double head gives him an advantage over a normal spear. The boy's swings are similar to Ruby with her scythe, just adjusting for the fact his blade is not curved. I realize, with a smirk, that there is a friendly rivalry between the two. They now each others style and how to counter it. This is going to be a lengthy fight, coming down to who has the most stamina. Ruby dashes around haphazardly, attacking on one side only reappear on a different one. Somehow the boy is able to keep up with her and I haven't seen him use a semblance yet. So either he's just really good, or his semblance is something we can't see, but allows him to see Ruby even at her great speed.

After about fifteen minutes, both combatants are slowing. Ruby was breathing heavy from aura exhaustion and the boy from keeping up with her. I glance up at their aura meters and see that they are both barely above red. One solid hit will end this, or the match will end in a draw just from using to much of their aura. Ruby and the boy pull away from each-other and set themselves up for a final attack. Three seconds pass and they charge, but halfway between them the boy suddenly separates his double spear into two small spears in each hand. Ruby, not missing step continues onward. Right before they reach other, Ruby disappears only to reappear in the same spot, throwing the boy off earning him a solid hit in the side with her scythe, earning Ruby the victory.

The buzzer sounds and Mr. Clancy walks out to congratulate the two before calling a girl named Alex and Yang down to the ring. This fight didn't last even close to as long as Ruby's. While Alex seemed like a VERY good fighter, she may of um...accidentally cut Yang's hair. Something I have done on a few occasion during our training. Lets just say Mr. Clancy had to pry Alex out the the wall and get Yang to carry her to the infirmary. The rest of the class passes by with another thirteen fights before something happens that I'm not sure whether I'm glad of happening or not. Thinking back, I realized that I had accidentally sat in the visiting student section and that Mr. Clancy had been keeping an eye on me like the girls combat theory teacher.

At the end of the thirteenth fight, Mr. Clancy walks out to announce something. "Since we have an odd number of students this class, I'm going to ask someone in the audience to come fight the last student. Of course you may decline if you so wish." Pretending to search the crowd of students who were visiting the school, his eyes settle on me. "You their with the gray hair, care for a duel?" I sit their for a few moments thinking about my options. I could refuse and watch the last fight, or I could find how my combat skills are compared to the last student. Deciding, I nod my head and walk down to the locker room to enter the arena.

Before I can walk in, I find Yang and Ruby standing in my way with worried faces. Yang, speaking up first walks up to me. "Davian, what are you doing, you don't have to fight! You don't even have your weapon!" Ruby nods her head in agreement, not understanding why I wanted to fight.

Sighing, I look at Yang in the eyes, "Yang, I want to see where I am compared to someone who's been here longer than me. I can't find that out just by watching you guys fight. As for my weapon, come one Yang," I say lifting my hands, "you of all people should know how dangerous these can be. We did train together for years." They both look at me for a few seconds before nodding their heads and quickly give me a hug before rushing back to their seats. I continue out into the arena and apologized to my opponent and the teacher for keeping them waiting.

Waving his hand dismissively in the air, Mr. Clancy exclaimed, "It's alright lad," then looking at me a little harder, he asks "do I know you from somewhere. I swear you face look familiar?" My opponent looks over to me with narrowing eyes and I realize I'm fighting one of the racist bullies that messed with me when I went to signal, Tom Anderson.

Ignoring Anderson, I look back to Mr. Clancy and say, "It's been a few years since I've attended Signal, you taught me when I was here." At that, Mr. Clancy's and Anderson's eyes widen in realization.

Looking me up and down, Mr. Clancy face morphs into one of shock and sadness. "Davian Kadar...I'm sorry for asking this of you lad, if you wish, I'd be fine with you going back to your seat. You don't have to fight if you don't wish to."

Shaking my head, "No, it's ok sir, I want to see how I do after these years." Looking back at Anderson to see a sneer on his face, "Try to keep the commits to yourself Anderson, they only got you in trouble if I remember correctly." Turning around to take my starting place, I hear him mutter something along the lines of "faunus dog", well he hasn't' changed at all. Mr. Clancy puts some information into his scroll and puts Anderson's and my name up on the screen. As our names and pictures appear, I hear the murmuring increase as many people recognize my name. Turning to face Anderson, I close my eyes and breath, forming a plan in my head. "If his hasn't mentality hasn't changed, chances are his fighting style hasn't either. He'll hang back and make me come to him while he fires dust rounds at me with his assault rifle that can turn into a single bladed war ax. I, on the other hand, have become much more proficient at fighting since he last saw me."

Opening my eyes at the buzzer, I find Anderson at the far end of the arena already aiming at me. I quickly role to the side just before a long burst of rounds pepper the ground where I was scant milliseconds before. I jump forward and sprint toward him while dodging and weaving back and fourth to dodge his dust rounds. When I'm within twenty feet of him, he changes the form of his weapon to prepare for my attack. While he may be a racist bully, he's not the worst fighter. If I want to even the playing field, I need to disarm him. When I'm scant feet away, he swings viciously at my head only for me to drop backwards onto my hands and spring kick into his chest, launching him backwards into the wall, knocking the wind out of him. Back on my feet, I rush forward to press the advantage. I grab his neck with one hand and his ax with the other and fling him into the middle of the arena. I throw the ax behind me and rush towards him again. This time he was ready, and I fell for his trap.

Halfway to him I started seeing double, then triple, then quadruple. I mentally kick myself for forgetting to factoring in his semblance. Over time, I'd forgotten how it worked, so I had no idea how to counter it. I stop running and look around to find myself surrounded by ten copies of him, all mirroring each others movements. I lurch forward from getting punched in the back of the head and then I fall on my back from getting kneed in the face. He stomps my stomach savagely and kicks my head, trying to keep me down. Still seeing myself being kick by ten different feet, I surprise everyone when I disappeared in a puff of slow moving gray mist only to appear on the opposite end of the arena. Holding my stomach, I wipe the blood away from my nose and looked up as Anderson laughed. A laugh was what sparked the memory. I smirk, realizing how to counter his semblance. While it copies him, it doesn't make the copy real. If I put a hand on a copy, it would pass right through it. So, if they can't be touched, they can't generate sound either.

With no warning, he charges right at me. I close my eyes and listen for foot steps. Anderson is many things, brutal, crude, and being an asshole just to name a few, but subtle is not one of those before mentioned things. Listening, I hear foot steps coming from my left. Putting two and two together, I figured out he's the third one from the left. I pretend to face the one coming straight at me only for me to grab his fist with my right hand as he swings. He yells in surprise as I pull him right into my left fist, effectively clothes-lining him. Before he can hit the ground, I lift my right knee right into his back as hard as I can. As he rolls of my knee I back away, allowing him the chance to get up. He pulls himself up with a grown, holding his back and looks at me with a fierce anger. He rushes at me in a blind rage, trying to "put me into the ground" I hear him mutter. Right before he reaches me, I glide around him and give him a solid hit in the back of the head with my elbow causing him to face-plant into the wall behind me, effectively knocking him out.

Mr. Clancy comes out to congratulate me and to check on Anderson. As I'm walking out of the arena, I realize that a large portion of the audience is cheering for me with Yang and Ruby whooping above the rest of them. I smile as I walk up to Ruby and Yang, it felt good to fight again.

Ruby and Yang give me bone crushing hugs with Ruby practically yelling in my ear exclaiming, "THAT WAS AWSOME DAVIAN! YOU WERE LIKE HOOOAAA AND WHOOOOSH AND-" she never finished because Yang pull me in front of her to check me over.

Looking me up and down with a critical eye, Yang eventually decides that the beating I took wasn't as bad as it look from the stands. "You sure you're ok? Anderson got several good kicks and stomps in."

I nod my head, "Yang I'm fine, Anderson was never able to hit to hard. Plus I've had much worse..." seeing sadness flash through Yang's eyes made me wish I had reworded that statement. "Sorry, didn't mean to make it sound like that." Looking back towards the class rooms, I say "Come on lets get you two home, I'd like to leave before anyone from our class catches up and starts asking question." We leave the school and start walking back to their house. We just made small talk for most of the way before Yang remembered something I did in the arena.

Looking over at me, "Davian, did you finely discover your semblance? You weren't able to teleport before you disappeared" she asked.

Nodding my head in confirmation, "Yeah, I discovered it when I was in a tight situation a little while before I found my way back here. It's pretty useful. I can only move about twenty feet or so at a time, but it's very versatile. I can reappear in any direction, like I can be running then I teleport and reappear on my hands keeping my momentum. And if I'm tied down, I can teleport out of my bonds if I can see where I want to go. Of course I can teleport based of sound, but I need to be careful so I don't teleport inside of something, it could seriously hurt me."

The girls hmmed as we got back to their place a few minutes after. I said goodbye and headed back home, I had some serious work to do.

 **Hey guys, well that's the end of chapter two. I would really appreciate it if you guys left a commit telling me how I'm doing and if there is anything I can do to improve my writing. IMPORTANT – I would like you guys and gals to give me your suggestions on how Davian will get into Beacon. I already have an idea, but I'd like to hear from you guys. Well, hope you enjoyed.**

 **See ya next time Archangel Out...**


	4. Chapter 3 - Entrance

**Chapter 3 everybody, nuff said. So I'm going to be picking things up a bit story-wise. We'll be getting to my spin of the cannon story in this chapter. I say my spin because I'm going to change a few things to make it fit Davian being there as well as my own little add-ins. I promise it won't mess with the overall story to much. Unless of course something in Season 3 messes that up. If that does happen, I may go back and change the story or I may change the cannon again, we'll see. Well, lets get rollen...**

Another sleepless night. I sigh to myself as I look at the shattered moon outside my window, "At least I'm used to it. I wouldn't be able to function properly if I couldn't." Thinking about the day, I realize how much work I'm going to have to do to catch back up to Yang. To the average person I may be in great shape, but to a Hunter worth his title I was only acceptable, not good enough in my mind. I have many things I must accomplish if I am going to catch up. I need to study for the Beacon entrance exam, finish my weapon, get some form of Hunter clothes together with some armor in it, as well as get back into fighting shape.

Lots of work to do indeed. I may of done ok against Anderson, but he almost had me once or twice during that fight due to mistakes I made, mistakes I wouldn't of made three years ago. First things first, getting into shape. I need some place I can work where my scars won't get stared at. I'm not ashamed of them, but they are pretty attention grabbing, and I'm pretty sure Vale is aware that I'm back in town. Apparently my disappearance made it into the _Vale Times_ and caused quite the commotion, and I'm sure my reappearance at Signal has caused quite the stir itself. I'm not famous, more like just something to be stared at, something I am very tired of.

Looking out into the forest behind my family's house, I make out the faint path that used to lead back into a clearing. A very private clearing. Getting up, I get dressed and walk into the forest to find how the clearing looks after all these years. After walking for three minutes, I emerge into the clearing that, for the most part, looks the same. Maybe a little overgrown, but nothing a few hours of labor wouldn't fix. Deciding to get a start on it, I go back to the garage and grab the tools I'll need to not only clean up, but to make my personal training equipment. Time to get to work.

 **-][-**

 **(Yang's POV)**

Walking up to a familiar door, I knock and wait for someone to answer. Not having to wait to long, the door opens to Davin's mother.

Eyes lighting up in recognition, Mrs. Kadar swings the door open, "Yang, it's good to see you. If you're looking for Davian, I think he's been in the clearing since early morning working on something. When you see him, tell him I have food ready for him when he's hungry, and you may join to of course."

I smile at her kindness, "Thank you Sianna, I won't forget to tell him." Walking down the porch, I find the path to the clearing to be recently tended to. I walk back to find Davian finish putting on a sweaty shirt, standing next to two weird looking tree trunks sticking out of the ground. I walk over to say hi and to find out what he's doing. Turning towards me, he waves and I couldn't help myself with that sweaty shirt of his. "Dang it, if I'd been here a few minutes earlier, I wouldn't of missed the show" I say, a grin splitting my face.

 **(Davian POV)**

Raising an amused eyebrow at her comment, I put a smile on my face. Completely forgetting how Yang not only made bad puns, but suggestive commits left and right as well. "Good to see you to Yang. What are you doing here?"

Finally reaching me, she puts and hand on her hip and gives me an exasperated look, "Do I need a reason to see my best friend on my day off."

I raise my hands in defense, "Didn't mean it that way, I just didn't know you had the day off."

She raises an eyebrow, "Mmhm," looking around the clearing, she finds a homemade exercise area, spotting two things she didn't recognize "what are those" she points? Walking over to the weird contraption, she finds the two tree trunks set firmly into the ground about three feet apart that have deep grooves carved into them set half a foot apart with a metal pole three feet long leaning against one of the trunks. Picking up the metal pool, she eyes the trunks, trying to figure out the odd device.

Taking the pole from her hands, "Here I'll show you." I walk inbetween the trunks and set the pole in a grove just above my head. "It's an exercise I came up with that really works your chest and arms. You set in a groove above your head then you jump, using the lift to get you into the next groove. You then jerk yourself up to the next one and so on. **(Look up the Salmon Ladder for visual, like in the TV show Arrow)** I then proceed to show Yang what I meant. I lurch up to the third groove and continue up. Unknown to me, while I'm moving up the ladder, Yang is at the bottom fully knowing what the exercise was, she just wanted to see me do it. By the time I reach the sixth groove, the smirk on her face has disappeared to be replaced with concern as she squints her eyes to try and catch something she saw when my shirt rode up.

When I drop back down to the ground, I turn to Yang to see her in deep thought, starring at my chest, and not in the way she normally would. "Yang...what is it?" She looks at me in the eyes, then looks back down at my abdomen. Sighing, I put my hand on her shoulder, "Yang, I'm fine. Everything healed up and I've made a full recovery."

She looks back up and really looks up at me, and I mean really looks at me. "If you made a full recovery, then why haven't you smiled more than three times since you got back?"

Internally I flinch, outwardly I smirk, cocking my head to the side, "What do you mean? I've smiled plenty of times since coming back."

Shaking her head, we sit down on the ground. "Don't lie to me, the only times I've seen you really smile is when you got back and saw Ruby and I again, and again when you were fighting Anderson. You may be able to put a smile on your face and trick everyone else, but we ate together, fought together, hell, we inseparable for three years. So don't you think for a second that you can lie to me." Shaking her head, eyes misting, "Don't, we've been through to much."

She pulls me into a hug, crying into my shoulder. I hug her back, sighing as I realize that my act had been seen through by the one person in my life that could. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I just...didn't want any of you to worry."

She looks up at up at me angrily, "I don't care if you didn't want us to worry you dumbass! We are going to worry-we have a right to worry after what you went through. We may not know know what happened to you and you don't have to tell us. Just-just tell me, tell me why you're going back into this life when you deserve to take it easy?"

I'm silent for a few seconds before I drop my head a bit, "Yang, I can't let you and Ruby go on without me. The life of a Hunter is not a safe one we both know that, and I'll be damned if I let you two go on alone. If either of you got hurt, or worse...killed, I-I wouldn't be able to live with myself." By now my head is bowed and I'm just starring at things that aren't there, "Along with my parents, you two are the most important people to me, and I'll fight hell itself to keep you two safe."

Yang just sits their with an unreadable expression. Then, as if the sun came out after a week of storms, a beautiful smile grows on her face. She hugs me again, her previous anger forgotten when she realizes my reason to fight. Pushing me to arms length, I see the old Yang sitting in front of me again. Not the sad, guilty one that tiptoed around me like I was a fragile piece of glass. The one that made those three years I was with her family some of the happiest of my life. The one who shone with the intensity of the sun, that changed my life from one of protests and frustration to one of happiness and adventure. Standing up, she pulls me with her smirking, "Well, lets whip you back into shape.

-][-

Training, forging, and studying is all I did for the next couple months. Yang helped me with the first one, Ruby the with the second, and I handled the third. By July twenty-third, I was as ready as I was going to be for attempting the entrance exam to Beacon. Yang had gotten her acceptance letter three months prior, causing me to redouble my efforts to make it with her. Ruby would be fine at Signal and in two years she will go to Beacon where I can keep an eye on both of them. I had regained all of my lost reflexes and agility, I had learned all the information needed to make the grades I would need, and my weapon was finished as well as my armor.

My weapon, finally finished, was what it was meant to be three years ago. A twenty-eight inch blade sticks over my right shoulder, with the sheath sitting diagonal across my back. It can house my sword, but also has a twelve inch dagger sheathed that can me housed in the bottom of the sheath. When either one or both of the blades are in the sheath, I can use it as a quarterstaff, or have twenty-four inch blades extend out of the bottom of the handles of the dagger or sword to create either a naginata or a double bladed sword.

My armor is made out of a material that is as tough as metal, but as flexible as leather and as black as the creatures I'm training to hunt. It provides a pretty good amount of protection without sacrificing flexibility, covering my entire torso along with my arms and legs. I wear fingerless gloves and boots, as well as a hood all made of the same material. The finishing touch being a tattered cape that makes up the hood as well. **(If you want a awesome visual, go to art/Nightingale-Armor-311099729 )**

I stand starring at a manikin and weapon stand in the shelter/forge I built in the clearing behind my home, admiring my work. "Almost finished," I say turning around. I walk outside and close the door behind me, the armor disappearing from sight as shadows engulf it. Walking back to the house, I think of the final thing I need to do. While infusing dust into a weapon is difficult, it's far from impossible. Especially when you have an expert forger like Ruby not far away. "Need to buy the dust though, after that, one more night of forging and everything will be complete."

Walking over to the house phone once I get inside, I call Yang's house. After ringing for a few seconds, Tiayang picks up, "Hello?"

"Hey Tai, it's Davian. Is Ruby free for the next couple hours, I need her impute on the final touches on my weapon?"

Practically hearing him smirk he replies, "Yeah, she's been really excited about something these last two or so hours. Come on over and you two can get going. Sorry Yang can't go, but she's still finalizing things for Beacon, so she's busy at the moment."

"That's fine, I'll be over soon," hanging up the phone, I grab my shoes and head out to pick Ruby up.

I'm hadn't even reached their driveway before I'm bulldozed over by five foot ball of red. Ruby starts dragging me towards Vale, excited to see the final product we had been working on for months. "Come on lets go lets go lets go lets go! I want to get the dust and you said that you would get me the new issue of _Vale Weapons Monthly_!" As we're walking in downtown Vale, Ruby stops babbling long enough to ask me what type of dust I was going to infuse into my weapon.

"Well, I was thinking ice dust for the sword and lightning for the dagger." She thinks about this for a few seconds before going off on another tangent about the pros and cons of my choices. A tiny smile unconsciously grows on my face as we walk into a store called "From Dust Till Dawn". I walk over to the dust and begin to pick out what I needed. Practically feeling the air vibrate form her excitement, I say to her without turning, "Go ahead."

"Ohmygoshthankyou!" She gives me a quick hug around my waist before disappearing to the otherside of the store in a rush of rose petals to where the magazine rack was. I shake my head at her antics with that small grin on my face as I walk over to the cashier to buy what I needed. As I'm pulling out my wallet to buy the dust, I hear the front door chime. Thinking it's another customer, I continue with what I'm doing, completely missing the fear rolling of the old man running the store. As I'm passing over the amount I owe, I feel the barrel of a gun tap against the back of my neck.

"Hands on your head kid" the robber says, voice very cocky. "Don't want to hurt ya. Shut up, turn around and don't try nothen." When I turn around, I see five thugs and a man in a white coat with cane standing in front of me with one more moving back towards the area Ruby was in.

Without meaning to, a chuckle escapes my mouth, knowing full well that someone was about to go flying because of Ruby. Suddenly I feel myself being pistol whipped and fall to the ground, the side of my face in pain. "I said shut up, what's so funny?"

Holding my face, I raise an eyebrow at the guy, "Do you want me to answer or to shut up? You got to speak clearly man." As he's about to kick me in the face, I hear a "HIIIIIIYA" and see one of the thugs go flying by and crashing through the window with Ruby right behind him. Taking that as my queue, I spun, knocking my attacker off his feet and teleport behind the counter and push the old man below, instructing him to stay down.

I teleport outside as Ruby spins her scythe into the ground, preparing for the charge. The guys with the cane looks at us then glances at his thugs, "Oookay, get them". Six thugs charge us in groups of three, trying to overwhelm us. Two thugs rush at me, throwing punches, trying to keep me from using my semblance. I grab one the the punches and pull the thug by me right into his friend, knocking both of them over. I hear a swoosh and duck as a sword pass right over my head. I spin around, kicking the guy off his feet, grab him as he's falling, and drove my knee into his back just like I did with Anderson. The only difference was that this guy had no Aura to protect him. As a result, I hear a small pop as he falls to the ground in extreme pain, out for the fight.

By know, the two I threw into each other had gotten up and were about to charge me again. Before they could react, I jumped at them and grabbed the arm of the guy on the right and twist behind him, put my foot on his back, and kick out hard. With a sickening pop, the thug fall to the ground screaming because his arm was savagely pulled out of its socket. I turn to the last thug who is hesitating from watching his friend roll around on the ground in agony. Making up his mind, he pulls out a red sword and rushes me swinging. I dodge a wild horizontal swing then grab is hand when he follows up with a punch. I spin around with his arm over my shoulder and pull down effectively snapping it in two. Looking up I see the guy in the white coat raise his cane to fire a shot at Ruby. I teleport and pull her out of the way and cover her to protect her from the blast. Once the smoke cleared, Ruby pulled away from me and looked around for the guy with the cane. Seeing him climbing a ladder to a roof, she turns to the shop owner, "Are you ok if we go after him?" Getting a nod, we speed after bowler hat guy. Ruby uses Crescent Rose's recoil to get her up to the roof as I just teleport to ledges that I can grab on to or jump off of.

I get to the roof soon after Ruby does, right as a bullhead appears out of nowhere to pick cane guy up, forcing us to cover our eyes. "End of the line kiddos!" Looking up, my eyes widen as I see him throw a burn crystal right at Ruby. With not enough time to pull her out of the way, I teleport in front and Ruby and wrap myself around her to protect her from the impending explosion...that never came. Looking behind me, I see a women wearing a white long-sleeved suit that exposed part of her chest, with puffy sleeves that tighten near the wrist before spreading back out near her hand. Her lower body has a black business skirt with buttons running vertically up the front of it with black-brown stockings. She is holding a riding crop that is being used as a stabilizer for a dust rune that is acting as a shield.

She "hms" as she pulls her arms before throwing them out, firing trails of purple energy at the bullhead. The guy with the cane rushes into the cockpit and switches out with a women whose face I can't see. As Ruby and I are standing their watching, the Huntress calls an ice storm to pelt the ship into submission. The mysterious women in the bullhead and the Huntress trade blows for a few minute before Ruby and I feel heat beneath our feet. Looking down, I found that the mysterious women had planted dust explosives with her magic during the attack. The Huntress pulls Ruby and I with her as she flips away from the explosion.

Ruby turn to the lady with a barley contained fan-girl squeal, "You're a Huntress? Can have you autograph!"

-][-

Two hours. That's how long I've been sitting in an interrogation room for. Of course the one police station the Huntress takes us to is the one with the racist police chief. As a result, I'm being investigated for attempted robbery even though I have two eye witnesses that state that I was fighting the robbers...assholes. All the while, Ruby is in the room next door waiting to be talked to by the police. Or at least I thought she was before I heard her squeal in excitement about something. A few more minutes pass before a man that I was not expecting walked in. Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy.

He sets down a bottle of water for me before looking at something on his scroll. "Davian Kadar. Quite the night you've had. I apologize on behalf of Ms. Goodwitch for bringing you and Ms. Rose to this station, she was unaware of the chiefs...moral views."

I sigh with an exasperated look, "Is Ruby going to be in trouble? She did nothing wrong."

Raising an eyebrow at my statement, he takes a sip of his coffee, "Why don't you put yourself in that column with her? Neither of you did anything wrong."

I raise my hands to show him the cuffs, "Do you know the history of this station. Even back when I first moved here, this place was notorious for finding, quote unquote, charges against any faunus that came through here. Of course they deny it and have the "charges" on file with the judge they always go to, not odd what-so-ever." I put my hand back down on the table. "Is Ruby ok?"

Putting his coffee on the table, he looks down at his scroll again, "That is what I'm here to talk to you about." He turns the scroll towards me, showing me a security recording of my fight. Not very long, but by the end, two are on the ground with fucked up arms and another with possible spine damaged. "Very effective, painful but effective. Why did you give them those injuries when you could of just knocked them out just as easy."

As we continue to talk, Ms. Goodwitch walk into the room. I shake my head, "Doesn't matter, they were threatening Ruby's life as well as mine. They weren't pulling their punches and were aiming to maim. I'm not going to let them swing to kill while I'm standing there taking it. Put them in pain with an injury that may or may not fully heal, and they may not hurt other people again. And if they do, well...the arm is weaker for the next time they try to rob me."

Hearing Goodwitch scoff, I turn my head to her, "Am I wrong?" I turn back to Ozpin, "What is it you want Professor Ozpin, because if we're done, I got to get to the fines and community services as long if I'm not going jail first."

He leans back and has a silent conversation with Ms. Goodwitch before asking her, "Glynda, would you be so kind to go talk to the police chief about Mr. Kadar's situation here? I'm sure you can negotiate so he may go free without any trouble". She roles her eyes before walking out, as Ozpin leans back towards me "Why are you taking the entrance exam for my school? You've only been back for a few months, so why are you already going back to fighting?"

Narrowing my eyes, I put the pieces together. Ruby was squealing in the next room and the headmaster of Beacon is here with his assistant. "You offered Ruby a spot at Beacon, didn't you?" He just nods his head, taking another sip of his coffee. I look at him with a worried face, "I know she's good, I also know that being a Huntress is her dream, and maybe she's the best in her class. But we both also know that the lives of Hunters and Huntresses is not an easy one. She still has two years of childhood to enjoy before she's exposed to killing or anything else that Hunters have to deal with."

Looking at me in the eyes, he asks, "How do you know of the hardships? You're only a few years older than her, so why don't you get to enjoy what little time you have left as a child?"

Shaking my head, "I don't get that anymore. You know damn well where I learned those hardships. I fought through hell to get back here alive, and I'll damn myself back to that hell if I can't protect two of the most important people in my life."

Smirking, he pulls up an application on his scroll, "Well, if you're going to keep an eye on Ms. Rose and Ms. Xiao-Long, you going to need to be at Beacon to do so." He hands me the application and I find that everything is already filled out by my parents except for the one thing they can't without my approval, the medical file. "I will need access to your medical file if you want to attend. Of course only I and the head doctor at my school will be able to read it."

I stare at the scroll for a few seconds, "Are the cameras and microphones is this room listening in on us?" Getting a negative I continue, "You have no idea what they did to me." I lift my shirt up bit to show him my chest which is literally covered in scars. "Can you tell the difference between torture and medical scars? You can tell by how precise the medical ones are." Ozpin's face is completely blank as he puts together what was done to me. Not only were there burn scars, stab wounds, and cuts from blades and whips, he recognized the ones I was talking about. Three precise, clean cuts run from my collar-bone down to my waste with two more running across my waist and from shoulder to shoulder.

He looks back up at me, "You weren't only beaten and tortured, you were experimented on as well" he says as a statement, not a question.

Nodding my head, "Ya, and I was the success. I don't want to say what they did, but you should be able to piece together what they did based on the file." I took the scroll and signed off for Ozpin and the head doctor at Beacon to have access to my file. "I'll go...I have to."

Ozpin nods his head and walks out of the room as Goodwitch walks in with the key to my cuffs, "Your family as well as Ms. Rose's are if the front lobby, you may leave whenever you wish."

Thanking her, I walk to Ruby's room and pick her up before heading for the front of the building. As soon as Ruby sees her dad and Yang, she rushes over to them, exploding over them about her getting into Beacon. I walk over to mom and dad and hug them. "I'll be fine, but I have to keep an eye on them." Together again, we head home and I prepare myself for the next stage of my life.

 **Hey guys, so I have a few things I'd like to say.  
1) I really appreciate to everyone that has taken the time to read my first story. I mean I already have eight followers, three favorites, and three-hundred and eighty-three views in three chapters...HOLY CRAP!**

 **2) I would love it if you guys would leave a review so I could know how I'm doing. If you have any criticism, good or bad, I'd love it.**

 **3) Also, if you guys have any questions or contributions, feel free to PM me with them. This could include questions about the story or ideas for in-between chapters or even story plot. I don't have much set in stone, so I'll give any ideas you guys send me thought, with the exception for lemons. Now I might have kissing or stuff like that, but no sex, period.**

 **Thanks for reading guys and gals and see you next time. Archangel Out...**


	5. Chapter 4 - Beacon

**Hey guys, thanks for encouraging me with the story. Shout-out to** **TenWing** **and the other three guests who took time to give me a review. Well that's all I have to say, so let's get going...**

 _Waking up with a groan, I roll onto my back in pain. Mind hazy, I try to piece together what was happening. For some reason, the left side of my face felt as if it had been torn apart and I couldn't open up my left eye. Using my only good eye, I look stock of my surroundings. Cold, concrete walls, no windows, and a single door, nothing else. "What the hell?" I reach up to feel my face and come into contact with mostly dried blood with a little still seeping out of the wound. Looking at my blooded hand, it all comes rushing back. Yang and I fighting, blood, and pain._

 _With a rush, I jump to my feet when I hear the door screeching open. Turning, I find a man with boar tusks standing in the doorway, "Well well well, sleeping beauty's awake". He says something into his radio as he closes the door, the last thing I hear him say is "Dibs on the whip."_

Jolting awake in a sweat, my head was on a swivel, trying to find a way out. Again, finding carpet, blankets, and a overall warm feeling, I realized all over again I was safe. I swung my feet off my bed and sat there with my face in my hands, "Haven't been that bad since I was actually there" I whisper to myself. I rub my face before standing up and walking over to the window to find that dawn was less than an hour away. "Better get ready, need to be at the airship by nine."

Walking over to my closet, I put on jeans and a plain gray t-shirt before heading downstairs. I prepare a breakfast for three, knowing that mom and dad will want to see me off. As I just finish making some omelets, I hear my parents coming down the stairs. "Davian, what are you doing? You're the one going off to Beacon, we're suppose to make you breakfast."

Shrugging, I put the omelets on the table along with juice and milk. "Just couldn't sleep, excited to go to Beacon" I said, lying through my teeth.

We eat breakfast together for what might be the last time for months. As we're finishing up, mom goes upstairs to get something while dad pulls me into a hug, "Please be careful, I know why you're going just...be as safe as you can. If you need to talk, your mother and I are only a call away while Yang will be even closer." Mom comes back down the stairs hiding something behind her back as she joins in on the hug before she hands something to me.

Looking down, I smile softly at the two photos in my hand. The first was a photo was of Yang, Ruby, and I when we became practically bonded to the hip all those years ago. The second photo was of mom, dad, and I back before the Fang went from good to bad. Looking up, I hug them one more time before strapping on my weapon, grabbing my bags, and walking out the door without saying anything more.

-][-

When I reached the airship, I was about forty minutes early. Grabbing a seat, I pulled out a book and read to pass the time. After half an hour of reading, I spotted a mane of blond hair. Shutting my book, I walk over in time to see Yang crushing the life Ruby, "Oohhhhh I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me, this is the best day ever!"

Barely able to breath, Ruby wheezes out, "Please stop."

Dropping her and backing away, Yang bounces in excitement "But I'm so proud of yoouuu!"

Ruby looks at the floor bashfully, "Really sis it was nothing. I didn't even do it alone, Davian was their to. "

"I may have been there Ruby, but you held your own," my sudden appearance causing the girls to jump.

Yang recovers quickly and hugs me, "Aaannd I also get to go with you to. These are going to be the best four years EVER!"

As I'm about to respond, a news report comes over the TV announcing that a peaceful Fanus rights protest was disrupted by the White Fang. Hearing an angry huff, I turn to Yang who looked furious at the news bulletin. Before I could say anything to her, a recording of Ms. Goodwitch plays, welcoming us to Beacon. Once the recording had ended, Ruby gasped, running over to the window. "Look, you can see Signal from up here! I guess home isn't so far after all."

Yang walks over, wrapping an arm around our shoulders, "Beacon's our home now." As we were looking out the window, some blond guy rushes past us, having trouble keeping his breakfast down, "Well, I guess the view isn't for everyone. I wonder who we're going to meet?"

Ruby lowers her voice so he wouldn't hear, "I just hope their better than vomit boy." Giggling at her own joke, Ruby looks down before yelling "OH GROSS! YANG YOU'VE GOT PUKE ON YOUR SHOE!"

Pulling her arms off of us, Yang starts freaking out, "GROSSGROSSGROSSGROSSGROSSGROSSGROSS!" Rushing towards the bathroom, she slams the door shut with Ruby leaning on me, laughing so hard her sides were hurting. I just stand their with a small grin adorning my face, realizing at this time that I haven't laughed once since I got back, and even a sadder realization is that I can't laugh at the situation even though I wanted to. I can be happy but...my body just didn't remember how to express that very well. Looking up as the bathroom door flies open, I see one pissed off Yang, hair ablaze that sent a clear message, all blond men, pray to your gods. Before Yang can go off on a warpath, I step in front of her and pull her back over to the window kicking and screaming the entire way, "LET GO OF ME DAVIAN! SOME OF THAT CRAP GOT INTO MY HAIR AND HE'S GOING TO BE BLASTED THROUGH BOTTOM OF THIS SHIP!"

Somehow finding the strength to hold her back, I try to calm her down, "Yang Yang Yang calm down. We aren't even at Beacon yet, so let's try and not break anyone yet." Eventually calming down enough that her hair was no longer a ranging inferno, I let go over her shoulders, silently praying that she wouldn't charge off and hunt down that poor guy. Fortunately, she sat down as I silently heal my burns with my aura as she brushes her hair, trying to work out the tangles that formed after washing that portion of her hair out. Waiting to dock, we just made small talk for the remaining time of the flight.

-][-

Eventually docking at the Beacon landing-pad, we are three of the first people off of the ship and stare at Beacon in awe. "Wow" we all say in sync.

Crossing her arms, Yang stands there with a smirk on her face, "The view from Vale's got nothing on this."

I nod my head in agremnt as Ruby went all chibi and sparkly, "OO OO, GUYS LOOK! THAT KIDS GOT A COLLAPSIBLE STAFF! OO AND SHES GOT A FIRE SWORD!"

Literally floating away, Yang pulls her back before she could get far and do something she'd regret, "Easy their little sister, their just weapons."

Gasping as if she'd been insulted, "JUST weapons! They're an extension of ourselfs, they're a part of us! Oooh they're so cool!"

Yang and I just smile at Ruby's antics, "Well why can't you swoon over your over weapon, aren't you happy with it?"

I duck as Ruby extends Crescent Rose, almost taking my head off, "Of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose. I just really like seeing new ones, it's like meeting new people...but better" she adds on at the end kinda bashfully.

I chuckle, and pull her hood over her head, "Ruby, I know you have trouble meeting people and would rather tinker with any new weapon you can, but you do need to try make some friends."

Yang nods her head in agreement, "Yeah, I was just about to say that. You gotta try to meet new people sis, it will do you some good."

Flipping her head off her head, Ruby looks up in confusion, "But why would I need to meet new people when I have you guys?"

I'm about to respond when I hear a large group of people approaching, Yang looks a Ruby kinda apologetic, "Yaaaa, actuallymyfriendsarealreadyhereandthey haven'thadachancetoseeDavianyetsoyabye!" Next thing I know is that I'm being pulled along by Yang surrounded by people I haven't seen in many years with Ruby's confused voice fading in the background. Coming to a stop, I realize that we were in some sort of student lounge that was being used for incoming students. Before I could get a better look around, I was being swarmed by several old friends Yang and I used to hang out with at Signal.

"Oh my god Davian! We haven't seen you in sooo long!"

"You doing ok?"

"We missed you so much!"

"Why is you're hair gray now?"

"How did you get that scar on your face?"

By now, I'm wide-eyed and internally panicking. Next thing I know, someone threw their arms around me and hugged me for all of a split second before I completely panicked and teleported to the door and ran out, not stopping until I get to a secluded location. I lean against the wall before sliding down it, bashing the back of my head against the wall repeatedly, "Goddammit! Keep it together Davin, keep it together." I just sit their, breathing heavily for a few minutes before I feel a hand rest itself on my shoulder, making me jump.

I quickly turn to see Yang pull her hand back with a worried look. "Davian, what happened?"

Sighing, I turn my head away, "Sorry, I just...I don't know. I just panicked for some reason."

Looking guilty, Yang reaches down to run her hand through my hair like she used to when I was feeling down due to racism or something else like that. Before her hand could reach the top of my head, she finds her hand in a vice-like grip. She looks down in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Shaking my head, I stand up, pulling her with me, "Lets get to the ceremony" I say, completely ignoring her question. She slowly nods her head, looking even more worried than she did before as we walk away, all the while I'm mentally kicking myself for my actions, fully knowing that I won't be able to hide every scar I accumulated for long.

 **-][-**

 **(Yang POV)**

As Davian and I walk to the auditorium, I try to figure out what he's hiding from me. I know he thinks he's doing it to protect me, but he needs to talk about what happened to him at some point. Not now, but eventually, it's part of the healing process. The entire way, he's in deep thought, as if he's trying to figure out ways to keep me from pestering him about it. I know he won't like it, but it's for his own good, I'm not letting him suffer in silence for the rest of his life. I'll stick with the niceties for now, but eventually I'll switch to tough love.

By now, we've reached the auditorium and find some seats, saving one for Ruby. We wait for a few minutes before I find her in the crowd next to...that's the guy that threw up in my hair! I'm about to march off and give him a piece of my mind when someone pulls me back by my hand. Looking back, Davian is standing there, smiling softly with an eyebrow raised, "We already talked about this Yang, let it go. He couldn't control his motion sickness, besides, how about not killing Ruby's first friend in this place."

I sigh before calling over to her, "Ruby over here, we saved you a spot!" Ruby says something to the blonde guy next to her before rushing over, looking not so happy with us. Completely oblivious to my sisters current mood, I ask "How's your first day going little sister?"

Crossing her arms, Ruby replies angrily "You mean since you ditched me and I exploded!?"

I raise an eyebrow, "Yikes meltdown already?"

"No, I literally exploded a hole in front of the school! Their was some fire, and I-I think some ice" she adds on at end, thinking hard.

Grinning, I lean in thinking it's a joke, "Are you being sarcastic?"

Scoffing, Ruby starts ranting, neither of us noticing the girl dressed in a white dress behind her. "Ugh I wish! I tripped over some crabby girls luggage, and then she yelled at me, and then I sneezed, and then I exploded, and then she yelled again, and I felt really really bad, and I just wanted her to stop yelling at me-"

The girl that had been sneaking up behind Ruby with a scowl on her face decided to make herself known, "YOU!"

Scarring Ruby, she jumped up into my arms, "OH GOD IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN!"

Hands on hips, she starts to lecture Ruby, "You're just lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!"

It's now I realize that Ruby hadn't been joking, "Oh my god you really exploded..."

I set my sister down as she turns towards the crabby girl, "It was an accident! It was an accident-what's this" she asks as a pamphlet is shoved into her face.

The girl launches of into a speech, looking as if she'd been told it instead of bedtime stories. "The _Schnee Dust Company_ is not responsible for any injuries..."

As soon as the girl says Schnee, I feel Davian slip his hand out of mine, but as I turn around to ask him what was wrong, I find that the he was gone. "How do you loose a guy that's six-two with gray hair. He didn't even use his semblance, I would of felt his aura activate, so where did you go?"

"Do you really want to make this up to me?" I hear the now named Weiss Schnee say, I put Davian in the back of my mind and turn back to try to salvage whatever my sister had gotten herself into.

 **(POV Davian)**

Quickly and quietly walking away, I make my way to the back of the crowd before teleporting up to a secluded ledge in the dark so no one would see me. "A damn Schnee, here of all places." I shake my head to get any dark memories out of my head before listening to the Headmasters speech. Once it was over, I teleported back down to meet Yang at the ballroom.

-][-

I finish getting ready for bed next to the blonde guy who was wearing a onesie for whatever reason and walked back to the ballroom to meet up with Yang and Ruby. Arriving, I look around and find them near the middle of the room. As I start walking over, Yang looks up at some of the shirtless guys roughhousing and tiger growls at them before seeing me and waving me over, "Davian, Over here!"

When I arrive, Yang stands up with her hands on her hips and doesn't look very happy, "Aaannnd where did you disappear to, hmm?"

Signing as I stop in front of her, "Just not a huge fan of that girl, that's all."

Yang just looks at me confused, "Why? Do you two know each other from somewhere?"

Raising and eyebrow at her, "No I haven't even met her, but did you catch her last name?"

Thinking for a second, she then realizes, "Oh right...Schnee. But how would she now you were a fanus? You don't have any showing features besides your ears, but you keep them hidden in your hair."

I sit down as I continue to explain, "It's not a matter of her recognizing me as a faunus, it's me recognizing her as a Schnee. While I have heard she isn't anywhere near close to as racist as her father is, I just don't want to interact with her if I don't have to. I'm going to go to bed, I suggest you two do the same if you want to be well rested for tomorrow, night."

Saying goodnight, I drift off to sleep, hoping I don't freak out like I did last night. Right before I am asleep, I could of sworn I heard the voice of a girl I used to know back in the Fang, but dismissed it as just an old memory mixing with the background noise.

-][-

 _They've had me tied between two poles standing up, with no shirt, in front of all the White Fang members currently at home base allowing the crowd to pelt me with rotten food and small rocks. I was left there for ten minutes as some lieutenant gives some speech about my families crimes of desertion and betrayal. I just stand their, head hanging, trying to figure out what they were going to do to me. I had only been at the base for a few hours so they hadn't done anything yet, but judging from the anger radiating from the lieutenant and the crowd, I knew that wasn't going to be the case for long._

 _"NOW LOOK AT THIS DISCRASE OF A FAUNUS! LET HIM BE AN EXAMPLE FOR THOSE WHO THOUGHT TO RUN!" I look up in fear as I hear someone walk up behind me. Turning my head, I find the boar faunus unwinding a whip._

 _He smiles evilly at me, with hatred in his eyes as he raises the whip above his head and lets it fall, *whhiiiippp_ _ *****_ _"AHHHHHHHHH!" He raises his hand again, and again, and again. Each lash cutting through my flesh, drawing blood. The entire time the crowd is cheering with precious few looking distraught. I look out into the crowd looking for anyone who would try to stop this. As I look out, I only found three people that were angrily talking to their neighbors for cheering, and one face in the back with cat ears. I recognized who was looking at me with a mixture of sadness and the slightest bit of contempt. As I yell in pain again, she turns and walks away in shame. As she disappears from sight, I try to figure out if she was ashamed at what my family had done, or if she was ashamed that she didn't do anything to stop what was happening to me._

I wake up covered in sweat, breathing heavy and curled up into a ball on the floor. I stand up shakily and stumble out of the room towards the bathroom, not seeing the golden eyes watching me leave. I arrive at the locker rooms and splash water in my face. As I look up at my reflection, I see the girl from my dream standing behind me, I sigh bitterly "What do you want Belladonna?"

She just stands there, looking down in shame. "I'm sorry" she says quietly, "I know it doesn't change anything. I didn't try to stop what they were doing to you and I'm sorry."

Turning, I glare at her, "You may not of agreed, but don't think for a second that I didn't see how you looked at me that day. Yeah there was shame, but contempt as well. You always agreed with the Fang, no matter what they did. You followed Adam around like a lost puppy, trying to impress the higher-ups and always fighting for our "rights". We may of practically been brother and sister during my families time in the Fang, so if you stay away from me and I'll keep your secret." I grab my gear then walk past her towards the door. As I'm leaving, I look back over my shoulder at her as she muffles her sobs, turning my gaze to the floor in shame, I walk out.

I sneak into the kitchen and grab two apples then start walking towards the cliffs for initiation. When I arrive, the sun is barely rising. Getting ready, I put on my armor, consisting of a chest piece that protects my entire torso, calf high boots, fingerless gloves that reach up to just below my elbow, and hooded cloak that reaches to my lower back in tatters. Leaving the rest of my arms and legs unprotected until I activate the armor.

I sit down, munching on the apples as I wait for the others to arrive. After finishing the apples and throwing the cores into the forest, I just sit there and think about the nightmares I've been having. "Why now? They weren't this bad when I first got back. So why would they suddenly go back to this now?" Shaking my head, I just sit and rest my body to make up for lost sleep as best I could.

After an hour or so, two people walk towards the cliff, one talking and the other completely ignoring the first. "Ozpin listen to me, because you let in Ms. Rose and Mr. Kadar, you've made an odd number of students. That means that one person is going to have to wait for more students to get a partner, let alone a team."

Continuing on his way, seemingly to be completely ignoring Ms. Goodwitch, Ozpin takes a sip from his coffee mug. They both stop when they get within sight of me, Ozpin, taking another sip finally answers Goodwitch, "Don't worry about anything Glynda, I have special plans this year that will benefit both parties concerned."

The entire time, I wasn't aware of the people behind me as they moved to greet other students who were arriving. It wasn't until someone called my name that I turned around and realized that everyone else had arrived. Look towards the voice, I find Yang standing behind me, hands on hips, staring down at me, "Where did you go? Ruby and I woke up to find you gone."

Standing up as I roll my neck to work out any kinks, "Sorry, I woke up early and decided to get an early start on things."

She nods her head in understanding as we walk over to platforms lining the cliff edge. I take the last one on the right next to the guy Ruby called Jaune. We make small talk about initiation until Ozpin steps up to start his speech, "For years you have trained to become warriors, and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Goodwitch looks up from her scroll, "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates...today." Ruby groans at this.

Ozpin picks back up where Goodwitch left off, "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is within your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Practically hearing him smirk he continues, "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." I could hear Ruby's world being shattered like glass with this revelation. Shaking my head, I listen to the end of Ozpin's speech, "After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way, do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die. You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics, each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. We will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are their any questions?"

Jaune raises his hand, "Uh ya, sir-"

Ozpin, completely ignoring him, "Good, now take your positions.

As he finishes, I activate my armor, causing it to extend to cover the rest of my body. I flip my hood up and stand ready to be launched. Starting at the far left then working its way towards me, students were launched. Looking over to Yang and Ruby, I give them a reassuring nod before they're launched. Right as I'm about to launch, my pad shakes a bit and launches me further to the right than everyone else, flinging me into an area of the forest that was more shadow than sunlight. A place where Grimm and monsters thrive. Let the games begin...

 **Hey guys, hope you're all liking my story. Judging from the reviews I've gotten, I must be doing something right. I'll get the next chapter to you as soon as I can.**

 **Archangel out...**


	6. Chapter 5 - First Day Problems

**Chapter 5 everyone, I only have one thing to say in this note. I would like to credit** _ **WilliamFDrake**_ **on Deviant Art for my cover picture (The picture is how I image Davian's armor)**

Taking all of three seconds to realize that I was going in the wrong direction, I right myself in the air and dive to get to the ground faster. As I reached the tree-line, I teleport to a branch and swung off it to kill some momentum then let go and jumped, pushing off one tree after another until I finally landed in a role on the ground. Looking around, I find a dimly lit forest floor with a little bit of sunlight filtering through the trees giving the area a dark green tint to it.

Standing up, I stretch my shoulders and neck that were sore from my landing, "Dammit Ozpin, bullshit this wasn't on purpose." I shake my head, refusing to believe that this was a mistake and start working my way towards the northwest to meet up with everyone else. After ten minutes of walking, I lose track of how long I'd been walking. Needing to know what the time was, I climbed a tall tree to find out. Breaking the canopy, my eyes widen when I see the sun setting.

I jump back to the ground and sprint northwest, trying to get to the ruins before darkness sets in, a hopeless wish. Not knowing how the Grimm would react to me, I move quickly but quietly through the shadows.

 **-][-**

 **(POV Yang)**

I've been waiting at the top of the cliff, nervously messing with my hair waiting for the last person in the forest to finish his initiation. The staff had set up a screens throughout the school so everyone could watch the students go through the forest and make their way back. I turn to Ozpin to ask him something that had been bothering me, "Professor Ozpin, why is Davian still down their? He's not one to waste time."

Taking a sip from his mug, he answers without turning away from the screen, "Their was a miscalculation in his launch pad and it sent him towards the northeast instead of north. Couple that with how oddly time moves in the Emerald Forest, he is the last one. Unfortunately that means that he has no one to partner with or team to be part of."

Looking between Davian move through the forest and back to Ozpin I ask worriedly, "He's still going to be able to attend Beacon right? He won't be dropped out."

Ozpin shakes his head, still watching Davian, "We don't drop students for not finding a partner if there's an uneven number of freshman. No, he would normally be on a team by himself until more arrive as exchange students or through other means."

I nod my head in understanding and turned back to watch Davian move through shadows so well I lost track of him even though the camera was following him. A couple minutes pass before something Ozpin said clicked. I turn back to him looking confused, "What do you mean by 'normally' professor?"

He takes another sip of his coffee, "You have nothing to worry about Ms. Xiao-Long. He will still be attending, just understand that he is a special case this year."

Before I could question him further, a series of piercing howls reverberated through the forest. Snapping my head back to the screen, I see Davian dash away from the camera with a large pack of Beowolves giving chase. As the pack starts to gain on him, Davian looks towards the hunter giving surveillance as if he could see him and sprints away from the camera. He disappears behind a couple of trees, blocking our view with the pack on his heels and...doesn't come out the other end!

I just stare, eyes wide in fear at what may of been Davian's last moments. Oddly enough, the Beowolves keeps running with one leading the pack before slowing down and sniffing the air. They shuffle around for a few moments before they slink off as if they were...disappointed. The surveillance hunter pans the camera back and forth, scanning for Davian. He sees nothing except for a Beowulf or two running north.

Ozpin causes the camera feed to splits into multiple different views throughout the forest. My eyes jump from feed to feed trying to find Davian for several minutes but turn up nothing. Finally, I look at the feed covering the ruins we destroyed earlier and spied a black shadow climbing up the cliff face. I spin around and sprint towards the cliff, drawing everyone's attention to me.

 **(POV Davian)**

Climbing up a cliff-face in the dark is not an easy thing, especially when I know that there is a dragon sitting at the top ready to throw me off the cliff for almost getting myself killed. Sighing, I pull myself up over the cliff edge. Standing up, I roll my neck, "Professor, there better be a damn good reason my pad sent me that far northea-ooofff!"

Following the arm connected to the fist that had planted itself in my stomach, I see Yang standing their looking very pissed. "YOU ASSHOLE! DO YOU KNOW HOW CLOSE THOSE BEOWOLVES WERE TO CATCING YOU!" Pulling her fist out of my stomach, she pulls me into a hug, "You have to be careful Davian, I know our job is not going to be good for our health, but...just be as safe as you can. Please, for me."

Thinking for a few moments, I nod my head and start walking back towards the group that had formed a little ways away ignoring the pain in my chest. Upon reaching them, I walked up to Ozpin, "I'm afraid all the pieces were taken by the time I reached the ruins sir."

Shrugging as he takes a sip, I can practically see him smirking behind the mug. "Couldn't be helped, you will not be penalized for it." Turning away from me, he addresses the crowd behind us. "Congratulations on completing your initiation. Lets get back to the school so that we can make it official."

-][-

"Russel thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark. The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL, led by Cardin Winchester." Cardin and his three teammates walked off the stage looking pretty happy with themselves, though they did glance at any faunus they came across. How Cardin got in, I'll never know. As long as Anderson didn't get in as well I'll deal with it.

Ozpin started calling names again, "Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR, led by Jaune Arc."

Ozpin nodded at him, "Congratulations young man."

Jaune looked surprised, but more nervous than anything. "Le-led by?" Nora hugged Ren and Pyrrha happily punched Jaune lightly in the arm, though it still knocked him over. Something the entire auditorium found hilarious.

As JNPR walked off the stage, Ozpin called up the final group of freshman, "Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao-Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY, led by Ruby Rose." Needless to say, there were three four completely different expressions on the stage. Ruby looked shocked, Yang excited, Blake indifferent, and Weiss...Weiss just looked like someone just stole her favorite toy.

After a few seconds, they thanked the headmaster and walk off the stage. Ozpin turned his gaze on me and minutely nodded his head, telling me it was my turn. I sighed, preparing myself for the many stares I was going to receive, "And finally, Davian Kadar," hushed whispers spread throughout the auditorium, "due to the fact that you were the last to reach the ruins as well as...other complications, you were unable to find a partner. As a result, you will temporarily join an existing team until more students arrive at Beacon." Acknowledging him, I turn and walk back to join my fellow first years, ignoring the looks I was receiving from everyone in the room after they learned who I was. Ozpin turns to address everyone, "Looks like things are shaping up to an, interesting year."

As everyone was exiting the auditorium, Ruby's team as well as myself was pulled aside by Ms. Goodwitch and led to the headmasters office. Stepping inside, Ozpin turns to address us, "Congratulations are in order I believe."

Ruby steps forward and answered for all of us, already jumping into her leader role, "We thank you Headmaster."

Nodding his head, he motions for us to take a seat. "Now, lets get down to what I called you here for so we can all go get some much needed sleep. You're team this year Ms. Rose is going to be, a little different from past ones."

Ruby tilts her head in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Ozpin motions towards me with his mug before taking a sip, "Mr. Kadar's...unique situation forces me to do something special that required me to find a loop-hole for."

I immediately began staring at the carpet as the everyone's gaze shifts towards me with different expressions. Yang and Ruby looking sad, Weiss confused, Goodwitch annoyed for whatever reason, and Blake, even though she hid it well, heavy guilt. Ozpin continues from where he left off, "Mr. Kadar will mostly be paired with this team due to...how would you like me to word this Mr. Kadar?"

I respond without looking up, "Just say it as it is."

"Very well" he says, shifting in his seat, "to give him psychological help."

Weiss chooses now to speak up, "What 'unique' situation are you talking about? And if he has mental problems I don't want him watching my back in a fight."

Angered by her statement, Yang jumps to her feet and yells at Weiss "Watch what you say Ice Qu-!"

"YANG" I yell to get her attention. With everyone watching now, I keep my gaze on the floor, "She has every right to not want someone that may or may not be mental unstable on her team. Just let her say what she wanted to. This is a decision made by your entire team, not just you and Ruby."

Yang mumbles an apology, joining me in staring at the floor. Weiss accepts the apology and starts from the beginning again, "I didn't mean any insult with my opinion, but I hold my concern about having him with us in combat situations. If he has mental issues, then he should go to a psychiatrist, not be put in stressful situations."

Ozpin takes another sip of coffee, "A very fair point Ms. Schnee," turning his gaze to the other three, "I assume I don't need to ask what Ms. Rose and Ms. Xiao-Long think of the situation, but what of you Ms. Belladonna?"

Looking up to see her expression, Blake is staring at me with a very stony face, who's true expression only Ozpin and I saw, deep guilt. "If it will help him then I'll do what I can." Ruby and Yang look surprised, apparently not expecting her answer.

Nodding his head as he sets his mug down, "Very well. Ms. Schnee, if it will ease your concerns, Mr. Kadar is a VERY competent fighter and his issues shouldn't interfere with combat except in very specific scenarios if at all." Weiss thinks for a few seconds before conceding and nodding her head in acceptance. "With that out of the way, I will say that he will not be rooming with you due too your room already being full. Instead, we have placed him in the dorm next to yours and have connected them by a door. Is that acceptable?" Getting nods and shrugs from the girls, he slides over five packets with our name as well as five scrolls. "These are details you will need to know for the year as well as your scrolls. I suggest getting to bed as soon as possible due to tomorrow being the start of classes. Goodnight, congratulations, and good luck to you all.

Nodding our heads, we walk out and head to our dorms. Not long after leaving the office, Weiss asked a question. "What problems due we need to know of and, if you don't mind me asking, what...caused them?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Blake shift uncomfortably, "Nothing major that will greatly affect any of you. I just get uncomfortable when a large number of people focus on me outside of combat and sometimes I may...panic and disappear to the nearest shadow or secluded corner to get away from everyone. Besides that, nothing you need to worry about. As for what happened...I'd rather not talk about it. I don't mind if you ask Yang about it, or just search my name on the internet and look for a missing person case." By now we've reached our rooms, bidding the girls goodnight, I step inside closing the door behind me and collapse to my knees, finally allowing myself to succumb to the pain in my chest as I cough up a bit of blood. Falling onto my back, I just lay their for ten minutes until the pain subsides. Hissing as the burning intensified when I moved again, I sit up and started taking off my armor to get a shower and was able to get to bed by eleven.

-][-

Sleeping only for four hours, I get up, throw on some shorts, a t-shirts and go for an early morning run. Circling the school several times, I head back by six thirty for a shower and to meet the girls for class. Stepping out of the shower, I hear a piercing whistle cut through the dorm as well as a very excited Ruby bidding her team good morning.

Shaking my head, knowing the Schnee was the one rudely awoken due to the screech, I turn to my desk looking for the packet Ozpin gave us. In it I find the school rules that state the a uniform must be worn during class hours, allowing personal additions. Men are also allowed to forgo the jacket and just wear the vest underneath and woman have optional stockings. Shrugging, I leave the jacket in the closet, get dressed and knock on the door connecting my room to the the girls.

Ruby opens the door quickly, "Gooooooooooood morning Davian, how did you sleep?"

"Not bad" I lie.

Nodding her head quickly, she tells me what they were doing. "That's good, we're unpacking and decorating right now. Do you need help with anything?"

I shake my head, "No, I didn't bring too many things. Something Yang can't say" I say smile slightly.

The subject our conversation looks over from her poster she was hanging of some band called "The Achieve Men". "For your information Davin, I may of brought a lot of stuff, but you should see how much Weiss brought."

Looking over her shoulder from the closet, Weiss huffs annoyed, as if she'd already had this conversation several times. "I brought only the essentials!"

Yang puts a hand on her hip and grins, "Yeah, sure you did princess."

As Yang and Weiss continue to go back and forth, I see Ruby using Crescent Rose to fix the curtains, as she's about to spin around, I teleport over and grab her weapon startling her. "What did you do that for?" Raising an eyebrow, I jerk my head towards the curtain. Confused, she turns her head to find the blade of Crescent Rose inches away from slicing through the length of the curtain. "Oh...thanks!"

"You're welcome", I say glancing at my scroll, "You guys may want to hold off on the rest of your stuff if you want breakfast before class." Agreeing, we all head down to get breakfast.

After food, I head off for Grimm studies alone because Ruby and Yang forgot their bags and Weiss and Blake elected to go with them. Arriving within ten minutes, I take a seat and wait for the time to tick by. Glancing up at the clock, it's only fifteen seconds until class started. "Where the hell are they?"

The words barely had time to leave my mouth before Ruby and Jaune's team come crashing through to door right as the bell rings and everyone takes their seat as a portly man takes his place at the front of the classroom. "Ahem, monsters, deeeeeemons, prowlers of the night. Yes the creators of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as pray! AHHAaaaaaaaaa," everyone just sits their, unsure what to think of the teacher, "uuuumm, and you shall to upon graduating from this prestigious academy. Now as I was saying, Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe-havens in an otherwise treacherous world. Our planet is absolutely teaming with creators that would nothing more than to tear you to pieces, and that's where we come in. Huntsman, huntresses," it was here that my opinion of the teacher went from 'weird person' to 'keep an eye on this guy' when he obviously clicked his tongue at Yang. Without missing a beat, he continues on as if he try's to make his new students uncomfortable every year as a sort of tradition, "Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves. From what you ask? Why the very world!"

Still not sure what to think of him, my thoughts are interrupted by some guy sitting to our back left, "AAAAYYYYEP!"

Realizing that everyone was staring at him, he slowly sits down embarrassed and Professor Port picks up form where he left off again. "That is what you are training to become, but first, a story, a tale of a young, handsome man, me." At this point, I don't care if he's teaching, if you could even call it that, at beacon. He's telling us stories of his past instead of teaching us what we need to know about Grimm. Sighing, I lean back into my seat and get ready to listen for the next two hours, not noticing Ruby to my right. After about and hour and a half into the class, I'm listening carefully to what he was saying. Not because his stories were interesting, but because he was telling us the weaknesses of the Grimm we'll be fighting. He's just, for whatever reason, hiding the facts in absolutely boring stories.

Looking to my far right, Blake was reading the textbook, or I thought she was until I leaned back a bit and saw another book inside of it, smart. Next to her Yang was hanging on to her last thread of conciseness, trying to stay awake, understandable. When I get to Weiss, I find she's glaring with an extreme annoyance at Ruby. Lastly looking at the source of said annoyance to my immediate right, I see that she's drawing something on a piece of paper. Finishing, she shows it to the others. On the paper was a drawing of the Port and labeled Professor Poop, making a small fart noise in the process causing herself and Yang to snicker with Blake grinning slightly, but Weiss...lets just say she wasn't amused. Shrugging, I turn my attention back to Port, ignoring Ruby as I had done many times when she got like this. Unknown to me, Weiss, who had no experience when it came to ignoring your annoyances, came closer and closer to busting a gasket.

As Port starts to reach the end of his lecture, he starts telling us what virtues we must have if we are to be successful as hunters. All the while, Weiss is getting redder and redder as Ruby continues to mess around. "The moral of the story? A true huntsman must be honorable, a true huntsman must be dependable, a true huntsman must be strategic, well educated, and wise. So who among you believe you to be the embodiment of these traits?"

Without waiting to think about it, Weiss immediately shoots her hand up, probably thinking that high of herself, "I do sir!"

Looking back at the teacher, I can barely see it, but I swear he is grinning maniacally, "Well then, lets find out. Step forward, and face your opponent." Now I'm not sure if I'm to be creeped out by Professor Port, or fucking terrified. I feel like I'm going to lean more towards the last one. Anyone who can bore a room full of teenagers to death with nothing but words, make cages stocked with Grimm appear out of nowhere, and make that crazy of an expression while keeping his face and voice normal...run bitch run! Looking around the room, I seem to be the only one who saw his maniac smile, making everyone completely oblivious to the fact that we're being taught by a psychopath.

By now, Weiss had arrived in her combat attire, taking her place across from the cage as the others start cheering her on.

Yang pumps a fist into the air, "Goooo Weiss!"

Blake pulls a little RWBY pinnate flag out of nowhere, "Fight well."

Ruby, the most vocal, yells out, "Yaaa! Represent Teeeeaam RWBY!"

Weiss huffs and snaps at Ruby, "Ruby, I'm trying to focus!"

Narrowing my eyes, I close my mouth before I say something I'd regret. Ruby timidly pulls her hands down, "Oh uh, sorry."

"All right," Port calls, having somehow gotten his weapon off the plaque above his board without anyone noticing. Seriously, a man of that girth should not be able to be subtle, but yet here he is. "Let the match begin!" Cutting the lock on the cage, a Boarbatusk rushes out, intending on spearing Weiss on its tusks. Weiss flips to the side, swinging at the same time testing its armor. Port is standing of to the side observing, "AHHA, wasn't expecting that were you!"

Looking to my right, I see an excited Ruby cheering Weiss on as she attacked the Grimm, "Hang in their Weiss!"

Weiss, trying to ignore Ruby, foolishly charges the Boarbatusk head-on, causing her foil to be caught in its tusks. Port decided to give his two cents on Weiss' predicament, "Bold new approach, I like it!"

Ruby, completely unaware on how much she was annoying Weiss shouts out, "Come on Weiss, show it who's boss!"

Distracted by her statement, Weiss glances over at Ruby angrily only to have her weapon thrown out of her hands. "Oh Ohhhh, now what will you do without your weapon" Port booms out. Looking up, Weiss gasps and jumps away just as the Boarbatusk rushes by only to smash into the wall.

Sprinting over to her weapon, Ruby shouts out some advice, "WEISS, GO FOR ITS BELLY! THEIR"S NO ARMOR UNDER THE-"

Finally snapping, Weiss spins angrily towards Ruby, "STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!"

Grinding my teeth, I look over at Ruby who looked like a kicked puppy. Having enough, I snap at Weiss myself, "Just follow her advice Schnee!"

Glaring at me before turning back to the fight, she readies herself as the Boarbatusk began spinning and launching towards her. Right as it reached her, she made it run into a glyph, causing it to fall onto its back. Jumping up onto another glyph above her, she launches herself forward, impaling the Boarbatusk through the stomach.

Out of breath. Weiss just kneels their as Port congratulates her, "Bravo, Braaavo. It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true huntress in training. I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and stay vigilant. Class dismissed."

Not even bothering to look back at Ruby, Weiss turns around angrily and walks out of the classroom. Ruby gets up a few seconds after Weiss left and ran out to catch up with her. As we walk out, I turn towards the direction Weiss and Ruby went only to be pulled towards our next class by Yang. "I know you want to check on Ruby, you always protected her from bullies when I wasn't there. Trust me, I feel like pummeling Weiss into the ground myself but we have to trust Ruby to handle this as team leader. If we step in, then it will take her longer to adjust into her role." I just grunt, agreeing with her, not liking it, but agreeing.

Later that night after we all had gone to bed. I just sit on the edge of my bed thinking. 'Yang's right, again, I have to let Ruby find out how to be leader without Yang or I to be there holding her hand.' Leaning back into my bed, I lay their trying to get what little sleep I could. Hearing Ruby in the next room gasp, I get up and listen carefully. I hear Weiss and Ruby talk about how Weiss believed Ruby would be a great leader and that she would be the best teammate she could be. Smiling softly, I lay down again an fall asleep, finishing my first full day at Beacon.

 **Aaaaannnnd we're done with chapter five everyone. Hope it wasn't to dry, not a ton a action in this part of my story. I will try my best to keep it a unique as possible, but I don't want to change Monty's story to much my first time around. That being said, their is something I would love for any reader to do. While I won't be changing the main plot to much, I will do original "in between" chapters to lengthen and enrich the story. So something I would love is for anyone to pitch original chapter ideas to me. You can pitch any idea you want to me and I'll give it serious thought as long as it's not a lemon request. And if your idea is a good one but I can't find a place for it in the story, I'll post a new story of those chapters to give you guys a little something extra. So just put your idea in the review section or PM me and I'll think about it.**

 **Get the next one out to you ASAP, Archangel Out...**


	7. Chapter 6 - Pain

**Hey everyone, nothing really to say for this not. Hope you enjoy chapter 6.**

 _ **Italics = Memory/Dream**_

So far Beacon had been good for me. I was still a recluse, only staying in public when I had to, whether it was in class or doing whatever it was Yang and Ruby would drag me to do. On the other hand, I didn't completely freak out every time I was in a large crowd anymore. I still avoid them when I could, but I can get through them. Classes had been consisting of your basic subjects like math, science, etcetera etcetera. They were classes we needed to take, but were not very exciting. While along with those we had the more...interesting classes. Strategy, forging, and Grimm studies (Yes, I called Port's class interesting. That man surprises you in more ways than you'd think possible).

Of course everyone looked forward to Combat Class the most. Only held once a week on Friday for freshman, it gives us a chance to use what we've been learning. Currently, Jaune and Cardin were duking it out in the arena below us. Sadly, Jaune is...he's just getting his ass kicked six different ways. Currently, he's leaning on his sword, breathing heavily, after taking quite the beating from Cardin. Looking up determined, he charges wildly, yelling at the top of his lungs only for Cardin to sidestep and give Jaune a good whack that sent him sprawling. Getting up again, he charges Cardin for a second time in ten seconds only to be beaten down again.

As Cardin is raising his mace above his head to finish Jaune off, a buzzer sounds, ending the match. With the lights coming on, Ms. Goodwitch steps forward to stop Cardin from seriously injuring Jaune, "Cardin, that's enough!" Turning away from Cardin to address the audience she says, "Students, as you can see Mr. Arc's aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament style duel, this would indicate that Jaune was no longer fit for battle and that the official may call the match." She turns back to Jaune, "Mr. Arc, it has been weeks now, please try to refer to your scroll during combat. Gauging you aura will help you decide when it is appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more…defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowulf, now would we?"

Smirking, Cardin lifts up his mace and departs with a, "Speak for yourself."

Ignoring Ms. Goodwitch after that statement, I watch Cardin saunter off feeling pretty good about himself. I shake my head, wondering how he managed to get into this school. I turn to Yang voicing my question, "How did Cardin even make it here? I thought Beacon only took the best, and I remember that Cardin wasn't anywhere close to that during our first year at Signal."

Looking annoyed herself she answers back, "Believe it or not he actually improved tremendously over the years after you...um"

Sighing, I nudge her with my shoulder, "Yang, you can say it. What happened happened. While I'd rather not talk about it, not even acknowledging it happened is stupid."

Nodding her head she continues, "Yeah...well anyway he may have not been in the top of our class, but he definitely isn't a pushover anymore. His coordination sucks, but he makes up for it with brute strength. There was only one person stronger than him in our class and that was me and not by much." I raise a skeptical eye-brow at that one, "Okay, as long as I'm not angry." I 'ahhed' as Goodwitch reminds us about the Vital Festival along with the tournament that comes with it.

Leaving class, we head to the cafeteria to get a late lunch before heading out to do whatever we wanted with the rest of our day. As we entered the cafeteria and grabbed food, I revert back to the quite version of me when I wasn't alone with Yang or Ruby. I still didn't feel comfortable with Blake for her affiliation with the current Fang. She might have left for good reason, and I can respect that, but I doubt she kept her hands clean during her remaining time with them. Weiss still hadn't asked Yang about what happened to me and she hadn't looked it up either because she didn't know I was a faunus yet. Not that I felt insult by that, if I had my way then no one would know who took me. The only thing is that I'm just not sure if she hasn't asked due to not caring, or unsure if she wants to know.

While I was brooding, Nora was telling the group some dream she kept having, apparently keeping Yang VERY interested. "So, there we were, in the middle of the night!"

"It was day," Ren corrects.

"We were surrounded my Ursa!"

"They were Beowolves."

"DOZENS OF THEM!" Nora exclaims, standing up.

"Two of them."

"But they were no match, and in the end, Ren and I took them down! Making a boat-load of lien selling Ursa skin rugs" stated Nora proudly.

Ren just sighs, "She's been having this reoccurring dream for nearly a month now."

Glancing over, I see Jaune playing with his food while Ruby and Pyrrha shared concerned looks. Finally speaking up, Pyrrha turns to voice her concerns. "Jaune, are you okay?"

Jumping, Jaune turns towards us, "Hmm? Oh, yeah...why?"

Ruby replies moving her gaze around the room as if searching for the answer there, "Weeellll you seem to be a littllllle...not ok?"

Jaune just waves his hand at us, "Guys I'm fine, seriously look".

I just stare at the most pitiful attempt at reassurance, weighing the idea of giving some advice or not. As I give in, I'm about to say something when some laughing drew my attention away. Looking over, I see Cardin and his team messing with some faunus girl I didn't recognize. Completely forgetting about Jaune's problem, I quietly slip out of my seat when everyone was still talking to Jaune.

 **(POV Yang)**

Jaune stands up with his empty tray to head out, "Guys really, it's fine. Besides, it's not like he's a jerk to me" he looks over at Team CRDL, "he's a jerk to... everyone..." Jaune just trailed off as he looked over everyone's shoulder.

Raising an eyebrow at Jaune, we all turned to see what had surprised Jaune. Spinning on my chair, I was surprised when I saw Davian smash Russel's face into their table. I just sit there, trying to figure out what got Davian so mad. He wasn't one to draw attention to himself unless someone was messing with Ruby as I could easily take care of myself. I tensed as Cardin threw a punch, not sure how Davian would fair. I knew he was a good fighter, but he had yet to be called up to compete in combat class so I wasn't sure how he would do against Cardin. I guess I underestimated how much he had pissed Davian off.

 **(POV Davian - Few Seconds Before)**

When I got away from Yang and the others, I gently pushed my way through the crowd towards the assholes messing with the faunus girl. As I was about twenty feet from the table, non-other than Anderson steps in front of me, "Kadar, I didn't know you got in."

Trying to keep my patience, "What do you want Anderson?"

He just stands there grinning, "Oh you know, just wondering how you weaseled your way into Beacon?"

As I was about to give him some smartass response, Cardin roughly pulled on the girl's ear, "OW THAT HURTS!" By now the girl is just trying to leave, her food forgotten, "Please stop." Grinding my teeth, I shove past Anderson not wanting to waste anymore of my time.

Cardin kept laughing, "I told you it was real."

Russel just shook his head grinning, "What a frea-"*bang*.

Not giving him time to finish his sentence, I smashed his face into the table and knocked Dove and Sky onto their backs, knocking the wind out of them. Hearing something behind me, I ducked right as Cardin throws a punch, yelling at the top of his lungs. Pulling his fist back, his drives it forward again, hoping to catch me off guard, but no such luck for him. I grab his arm, spin, and drive him sideways into the wall. Giving him some encouragement to stay there, I smashed an aura powered knee into his stomach before letting go and walking back to the table. He didn't fall however, and just hanged limp in the wall due to being stuck to far into it.

I walk over to the faunus girl to check on her, "You okay?" She numbly nods her head, tenderly rubbing her ears. Ignoring the quiet room, I offer my hand to her, "Come on, I'll walk you to the infirmary." Looking at me as if she expected me to push her down too, she eventually takes it and I pull her up, "Come on".

Walking out of the silent cafeteria, we start walking in silence. "Why did you help me?"

Looking down at the timid question, "What do you mean?"

She stops walking to look me in the eye, "Why did you, a human, help me? The only people that would make themselves a target is my team. So why did you help me?"

"Never said I was a human" I reply.

She cocks her head to the side, "You don't have any faunus traits, showing at least, and every faunus has something. So where are yours?"

Making my face was neutral, I answer "It's not important…come on we need to get an ice-pack on your ear." I turn, continuing towards the infirmary, "So your name?"

She takes a bit to realize I asked a question, "What? Oh um, my name is Velvet Scarlatina." I just nod my head, holding the door open for her. As I look over her shoulder, I see CRDL and Anderson standing at the end of the hallway staring straight at me.

I scowl as I put my head into the infirmary, "Ms. Scarlatina, will you be fine for a second?"

She turns away from the nurse she was explaining to, "Yeah I'll be fine, why?"

"Just get what you need, I have to talk to a few people for a second" I reply closing the door before she could ask who. Turning around, I find CRDL and Anderson five feet away from me.

Cardin takes a step forward grinning from ear to ear, "Imagine my surprise when you of all people walk up and stop me from having a little fun. I thought we had an understanding back at Signal, I don't mess with you too much and you just keep your filthy faunus hide out of my way." As Cardin is talking, Anderson jams the door closed while the others circle around me, "Now here's what we're going to-"

"You're going to leave her alone" I interrupt him.

Cardin just laughs and laughs, "Why - HAHAH! Why would we do that, she's such an easy target?"

I steel myself, knowing I couldn't win a five on one fight in this situation, "If I let you guys take it out on me with no aura, you WILL leave her alone."

Cardin didn't even think about it for a second before he throws a punch right into my face knocking me back into the door with a loud thud. The others jump in kicking my chest, stomping on my arms and legs. Next thing I know, I see stars as someone kicks me in the head again, and again, and again. Everyone gives me a final kick before stepping back allowing Cardin some space to step forward. I try to stand up but only get to my knees because my legs and arms were splitting in pain, literally.

I look up at Cardin grinning, "You know Cardin," I say, spitting out some blood, "you guys are reminding me of the days back at Signal. You still need to work on your follow-through, still shit." Snarling at that, Cardin pulls his mace out and puts as much power behind it as he swings it right into my chest lifting me into the air. I land on my chest with a sickening crunch and start having trouble breathing.

They all started laughing as they listened to my labored. I couged again, causing a stream of blood to dribble out of the side of my mouth. By now, the infirmary door began to be beaten down from the inside. Cardin gives me a final kick on the head and runs off with the others. Facing down the hallway, my vision fades into black. The last thing I see is Ruby come around the corner with the rest of her team. Yang looks up from whatever she was saying and a look of horror falls across her face.

 **(POV Yang)**

"Come oooooon Rubes, breaking Cardin's legs with Nora sound pretty freakin aweso-what's tha-DAVIAN!" I push past Weiss at a sprint who cried out in prissy anger until seeing my cause for concern and runs after me with Ruby and Blake on her heels. I reach him first and turn him onto his back, "Oh my god, what happened?" His face was bruised and swollen; his chest was an odd shape with, "OH MY GOD! THAT'S A PIECE OF RIB!" By now, the infirmary door bursts open with the faunus girl Davian took here and the nurse behind her.

The girl gasps and rushes down to see the extent of the damage as the nurse runs out with a stretcher. "Help me put him on this, we need to make sure he can breathe!" I quickly lift him onto the stretcher and help the nurse carry Davian into the infirmary. We put him onto a cart as the nurse yells at the doctor that they had someone to help. As I go to follow them, the nurse turns to stop me from following, "Honey, you need to wait here. We can't allow you to be back there during the operation. You'll only end up getting in the way."

As I'm about to give the nurse a piece of my mind, Weiss and Blake pull me back towards the waiting chairs. "LET ME GO!"

Blake spins me around to get my attention, "YANG! Get ahold of yourself!"

My eyes are blazing red, "WHY!" She forcefully turned me towards a bench with a bundle of red shaking in it. The red in my eyes drains out as I quickly walk over to Ruby and hug her as she burst into tears on my shoulder, "Sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh it's ok Ruby."

She looks up, cheeks flushed, eyes red and puffy as she asked hoarsely, "Is Davian going to be ok?"

I nod my head trying to keep my voice steady but was having trouble, "Yeah, yeah he's going to be fine. Davian's a tough guy, he'll bounce back." Ruby just nods, setting her head back onto my shoulder, dry heaving, having accepted my answer.

We sit there for an hour until the faunus girl walked up, "The nurse just told me that he'll be ok."

I sigh in relief as I lay Ruby down who had fallen asleep. "Thank-you uhhhh, sorry what's your name?"

She smiled weakly, "Velvet Scarlatina."

I nod my head, "Thanks Velvet. Do you...know what happened?"

Velvet looks down ashamed, "When Davian and I got here, he stepped back outside saying he had to talk to someone for a second. The next thing I know, I hear a loud thud against the door. I tried to open it, but for some reason it wouldn't open. When I start bashing it down, I heard Cardin yell angrily at something followed by a thud. "

I'm off as soon as I heard Cardin towards the freshman dorms. As I was walking down the hallway people are stepping out of my way sending a silent prayer for whoever was in my crosshairs. As I step out of the main building, I see CRDL and Anderson hanging around laughing. My eyes go red and my hair bursts into an inferno, "YOU RACIST ASSHOLES ARE DEAD!" Cardin and the others turn towards me and ohhohoh, watching the color drain from their faces was priceless. They all scatter into the woods with me on their heels. For the following hours, explosions and screams were being reported from the emerald forest and oohhhhh I cherished those hours, even the Grimm cleared the area for the duration of my beating, feeling the rage shake the surrounding forest.

 **-][-**

I walked out of the forest with a deep scowl on my face on my face. On my way back, I saw Ms. Goodwitch waiting between the main building and me. "Ms. Xiao-Long, may I ask where Team CRDL and Mr. Anderson is?"

I don't stop walking and just point behind into the forest, "Somewhere back there."

Looking concerned, she glances towards the forest then back at me angrily. "Did you at least leave them in one piece?"

Glancing back at her with red eyes "Unfortunately," I ignore any-other questions and walk off towards the infirmary.

Not amused, Ms. Goodwitch moves to stop me until Ozpin appears out of nowhere and stops her. "Let it go. I reviewed the camera recording and medical report. They almost killed Mr. Kadar. We've looked over punishments before and we will do it again this time." Sighing, Ms. Goodwitch speaks into her scroll, calling a medical team to the Emerald Forest.

 **-][-**

I run back to the medical building and rush into Davian's room, ignoring everyone asking where I had disappeared to and walked over to sit by Davian. Hours pass and people come in and out to check up on him. Ruby, Blake, and Weiss left for a few minutes to go get food as I continue to sit by one of the most important people in my life.

 _Two hours. Two hours of standing there_ _before the crowd blooded and limp. The boar faunus steps back, taking what I thought was another two minute break._

Sitting there, I remember back to the other times we had been in this situation, not as bad of course, he was awake during those times.

 _Hearing footsteps behind me I close my eyes, thinking the two minute was already up._

As he lays there, I reach up to run my hands through his hair to scratch his ears like I did when he was really upset about something. 

_Someone grabs a fistful of my hair and pulls my head up to get a good look at me._

As I ran my hand through his hair, I froze when I found something was terribly wrong. Suddenly a lot of questions had an answer, but now I had dozens more. The rest of my team along with JNPR walks in. Ruby walks up next to me, "Yang, what's wrong?" I just sit there, eyes wide as tears stream down my face while I tried to stop myself from sobbing. "Yang?"

 _The lieutenant stood before me holding a pair of pliers grinning darkly. M_ _y eyes widen as I realize what he was going to do with them._ _He shoves my head back down and_ _I close my eyes and clench my teeth hoping it would be over quick._

I turn my gaze over to everyone, "His ears" I say quietly.

 **(POV Davian)**

Feeling someone's hand in my hair along with that memory I jolt awake, mind hazy, pushing whoever was next to me away. I try to jump out of the bed only to collapse onto the floor. Someone tries to pick me up but I push them away and stumble towards the door. Before I could reach the door, two arms spin me around and hug me.

I struggle for a few seconds until I realize my view is full of a mane of blond hair and not a screaming crowd. Realizing where I was, I broke down and collapsed to the ground with Yang, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Ruby rushes over hugs me from behind as everyone leaves to give us some time alone. I just let it all out, every emotion I had been penning up for half a year broke open. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Yang just hugs me securely, similar to how she comforted Ruby a few hours earlier, "Sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh it's okay, it's okay, you have nothing to be sorry for." As I continued to hyperventilate, Yang looks at me then looks at Ruby who isn't looking any better than herself, "Ruby, can you go check Davian out, we need to get him back to his room." Ruby nods her head and is gone for a minute before coming back with my stuff. On our way to my room, my mind had just gone blank from trying to process all those memories at once. After walking for a bit, I find myself in my room. I lay down trying to think straight but I might as well of tried to go toe to toe with a Deathstalker right then.

Yang sat down on the side of my bed running her hand through my hair trying to calm me down. I just stare at the ceiling until realizing it was two in the morning and Yang had fallen asleep in the bed beside me. If I had been in a healthy state of mind I might have been a little embarrassed, but I wasn't so I just closed my eyes and fell asleep. Though for reason unknown to me, I slept peacefully that night with no nightmares to plaque my mind.

 **IMPORTAT - Hey guys, chapter 6 is done. For the next chapter or two I'm going to try to have something happy for a change. I know, "MY GOD! CAN HE DO IT?" I didn't mean to write six chapters of dark stuff with the odd bit of humor thrown in. I promise I'll give it my best shot. On the other hand, my offer still stands to any reader. If you have a chapter idea you want to see happen, (besides lemon) either leave it in the review section or PM me and I'll give it serious thought. Now, something very important, the next chapters are going to be slow in uploading due to...certain...reason *cough* Halo 5, Fallout 4, Battlefront 3 *cough*. Sooooooo yaaaaaa, I'll do my best but no promises on that one. Besides those three things, I've got nothing else.**

 **Write to you guys and gals next time, Archangel out...**


	8. Chapter 7 - Scars

**Hey guys, chapter seven. Sorry for the wait. Add moving houses, school, Halo 5, Fallout 4, Battlefront, and a two big Mythology Myths I had to write all up together, and well...it turns into a HUGE time killer. Speaking of my big Mythology myth, if you guys would like to read it, it's in my story archive. So if you feel so inclined, go a take a gander (and yes, I do like using the Nightingale armor in my stories, I think it looks awesome). So I hope you guys like my next chapter, I made it WAY LONGER as an apology for the wait. So let's get to it...**

 **(POV Ruby)**

Waking up, I look around the room confused, "Where's *yawn* Yang?" The words hadn't even finished leaving my mouth before the previous night's events came rushing back to me. I look sadly at the door separating Davian's room from ours.

Deciding to check up on him, I jump off my bed past a sleeping Weiss and a not-so-asleep Blake, "Yang didn't come back all night Ruby."

I jump, mouth open, ready to give an explanation as to where I was heading when the words stopped dead in my mouth. Blake was curled up into a ball in the back corner of her bed. I take a small step forward, the light revealing her puffy red eyes. "Blake, what's wrong?"

She wipes her eyes and takes a deep breath, "Nothing you need to worry yourself about Ruby. If you're going to check on them, be quiet, they're probably still asleep."

I stand in the middle of the room debating what to do. While what happened last night was tearing me apart, my team was hurting. Blake looked like she felt guilty about something, but I didn't know why, and if Weiss' face was that contorted in her sleep, then something was bothering her as well. Yang, well...it wasn't hard to figure out what had her upset. Deciding to check on Yang and Davin first, I cracked open the door and had to slap a hand over my mouth to stop an *awww* from slipping out.

 **(POV Davian)**

Drifting out of consciousness, I feel a comforting warmth radiating from my left. I try to sit up, but something had latched onto my left arm and leg. Using my free hand to wipe my eyes, I look to my left to find Yang's face inches from my own, holding my left arm tightly and one leg wrapped around mine. I try to shift away but Yang held on even tighter, whimpering in her sleep. I sigh, resigning myself to my fate and stopped squirming before she woke up. As we lay there, I thought about what happened the night before in the infirmary.

I look at the ceiling shamefully, knowing that Yang won't like that I kept my wounds to myself. She never did, even back at Signal when it was only a bruise or small cut, let alone all this. Turning my head to look at her again, I think hard about what we were. If you asked anyone who didn't know us, they would say we were couple, especially if they saw us now.

In all honesty, even I didn't know what we were. If I hadn't disappeared four years ago I'm pretty positive we would be together, but now...I don't know. I didn't want Yang to be stuck with a guy that can't even sleep more than three hours due to nightmares. She deserves someone that can care for her as she does me, not someone who didn't even know how to return the feelings she gave.

Before I could think further, I hear someone slap a hand over their mouth. Craning my head to look over Yang's shoulder, I see Ruby quickly close the door causing Yang to wake up. She slowly opens her eyes and sits up just staring at me blankly for a few seconds before slapping me. I turn my head back towards her, seeing her eyes shift between red and violet as if she was unsure if she was angry or upset. "What the hell did I say about hiding stuff like this from me? Do you remember? I said I'd-"

"Heal me up then beat me down" I say, smiling softly.

She nods her head hugging me, "Damn right."

I sit up, untangling myself from Yang, and we just sit in silence for a few minutes until she broke it with the question I knew would hurt her the most. "What else? What else did they do to you?"

I close my eyes, knowing what I was about to do would really hurt her. I grab the bottom of my shirt and lift it over my head, revealing what lay underneath. I tensed as I felt a warm hand run itself across the numerous scars plaguing my torso. "Oh my god" I hear her choke out, barely keeping it all in.

I opened my eyes and kept them glued to the carpet, preparing myself as I felt her hand trace over a certain set of scars. "Whip. They tied me between two poles in front of everyone and just let loose. It was there that they tore off my wolf ears as well."

I feel her hand tighten into a fist before loosening and moving to a big ugly patch that marred my lower back. "Someone in the front of the crowd yelled 'use fire', so they poured burn dust into my wounds, then moved on to burn my lower back."

Her hands shake a bit as she moves to a set of teeth marks that wrapped around my shoulder. "Eventually they got bored of whipping and burning me, so they threw me into a pit with a Beowulf in it. It was there that I discovered my semblance. The Beowulf had my arm in its mouth when I suddenly appeared on the opposite end of the pit." I laugh bitterly, "Almost escaped that day, but I eventually succumbed to blood-loss and woke back up in my cage with an aura suppressing collar around my neck.

I feel a few tears land on my back, "How could they do something like this to another person?"

As I turn my entire body towards her, I slip my shirt back on; effectively hiding the scars I didn't want her to see on my chest. "Precious few in that crowd saw me as a person Yang. To them I was worse than the humans they were fighting. To them I was a traitor, but not only that, I was a traitor that had abandoned the cause and ran to live with humans." She sits there processing what I had just told her, having trouble comprehending how someone could hate that much. Especially against a kid only fourteen years of age. I nudge her a bit, "I'm going to be fine Yang, it's just going to take time and I'll always carry what happened to me. Nothing can change that, but I can make new experiences to outweigh the bad ones." She looks me in the eyes for a few seconds before nodding her head. "Alright, just, don't tell my mom and dad about this, they don't need to know, not now."

She furrowed her brows, "They need to know Davian."

I shake my head, "They have the most ammunition to blame themselves with and I'm not giving them the opportunity to use it until I've made more of a recovery. Okay?"

She nods her head again in understanding and hugs me, "No more hiding. I understand that there are things that you don't want to talk about, but you have to sometimes."

I hesitate, eventually nodding my head as we slip back into silence staring out of the window at beautiful Friday morning. "Come on, we have to get to Goodwitch's class, we have a field-trip today."

Yang looks at me concerned, "Davian, you don't have to go if you're not feeling well. If you need to, just stay here at Beacon and rest up."

I wave her off, "I've healed up completely Yang, I have no reason to not go."

She got up and stood in front of me with her hands on her hips, "I'm not talking about physically. Ozpin told us that we were to help you get better and that includes mental trauma as well."

I sigh, leaning back against the head-board, "Yang, those kinds problems don't go away by staring at a wall. I have to move on but that won't happen if you don't let me."

She slouches where she was standing, "I just don't want you to get hurt anymore."

I got to my feet, "That's not going to be possible Yang; we're Hunters in training now, which means we're going to be hurt time and time again in this career." She pursed her lips before sighing, accepting my answer. She gave me a final hug before going back to her room to get ready for the trip.

I stand there for a few minutes before heading to the shower. After finishing, I meet the girls in the hallway before heading out to the landing pads to meet the rest of the class. As we boarded the airships, I receive a welcome from anyone that had heard about the incident but I also notice a stained air about Team JNPR. I leaned over to ask Yang, "What did I miss?"

Yang nodded towards Jaune, "We're not sure, but after Pyrrha beat CRDL in an arena match, Jaune's been hanging around with them lately, doing all their work and stuff."

I glance over towards CRDL to see Cardin smiling slyly at JNPR, "I don't like the looks of that."

Yang shook her head, "None of us do. We can tell something's up, but no one can figure out what. Nora told me Pyrrha tried talking to him, but he must have said something because she's been severely annoyed at him lately." She huffed in annoyance, "I don't even know how CRDL doesn't have detention after what they pulled yesterday." I shrugged as I stared at JNPR as a depressed Jaune moves to stands with CRDL. Looking back at the rest of Jaune's team, I see Nora and Ren talking quietly to each other while Pyrrha just kept glancing sadly at Jaune.

We land after an hour flight and start off into the forest with Goodwitch telling us about it, "Yes students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful, but we are not here to sight see. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so." As Ms. Goodwitch stopped walking and turned to face us, Jaune accidentally bumped into Cardin causing him to turn and scowl at Jaune while he whistled innocently.

I turn back to Ms. Goodwitch as she held out a filled jar, "Each of you is to collect one jar of red sap. However this forest is full with the creators of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back her at 4:00, have fun."

As we break off into teams to collect the sap I lean over to Yang, "That sounded like it hurt her to say that last part." Yang giggled at that as she and the others each walked over to a tree to collect the sap. Before finding my own, I turned to find Jaune being forced to carry all of CRDL's things as they went in the opposite direction. Choosing to ignore him, I find a soft spot in a tree and shove the spigot in and the sap started to drip out. I stood there for a few minutes waiting for my jar to fill when I glanced through the trees to see Jaune stumble through the bush with six filled jars of sap.

Taking a second to do the math, I realize even with CRDL and himself, he has an extra jar. Glancing towards my team, I find that they're all occupied with their filling their jars. I quietly slip away as quiet as a wraith and follow Jaune. As I got closer, I saw him standing on the ridge, holding a jar full of sap above his head aiming it at someone. I glance down the hill and my eyes widen as I see NPR and the box that was buzzing madly.

I get up to teleport over, but Jaune lowered his arm, "No."

Cardin leaned forward surprised, "What did you say?"

Jaune suddenly spun around and threw the jar at Cardin, "I said NO!"

Before I could run in to stop CRDL from hurting Jaune, I suddenly hear a roar and turn around only to be bashed into a tree by an Ursa, effectively dazing me as I roll down the hill, eventually bashing right into tree. I push myself onto my knees as I hold my head. My attention shot back up the hill to the sound of roaring and yelling. Glancing around, I don't see anyone within the immediate area. I try to jump to my feet only to hiss in pain as I clutch my side that bashed into the tree.

"Damn, ribs must not be completely healed yet." I try to think of a way to get a hold of the others. Reaching for my scroll, I find it missing "Must have lost it in the fall." My head shot back up as I hear Jaune yell in anger at something. Steeling myself, I close my eyes and prepare myself, "This is going to hurt."

 **(POV Jaune)**

I glance down at my scroll to see my aura in the red, thinking back to Ms. Goodwitch's advice about managing my aura. Hearing another roar, I quickly put away my scroll and make a split second decision and charge the Ursa screaming. As I get within striking distance, I pull my arm back for the hardest swing I could muster, accidentally letting my shield down. As I swing, I don't notice my shield move on its own to block the Ursa's paw, enabling me to follow through with the swing, effectively cutting off its head.

Not believing I had just killed an Ursa, I proudly put away my sword and walk up to Cardin and hold out my hand. Cardin looks at it for a second before taking it and standing up, "Holy crap...Jaune-"

I scowl, "Don't ever mess with my team-my friends ever again. Cardin and I stare at each-other for a second, "Got it?" He stares at me shamefully as I turn to walk away before another roar tears through the air. I quickly spun around to see an even bigger Ursa Major bash its way through the trees running towards us.

As Cardin and I pull out our weapons, I hear someone yell out in alarm, "JAUNE!"

I look over my shoulder to find Pyrrha and the rest of my team along with RWBY and Goodwitch sprinting towards us. Pyrrha and Ms. Goodwitch reached us first with Goodwitch stepping in front of us, "Stay behind me students, this is a very dangerou-" Before she could finish her sentence, a piercing howl echoed throughout the forest causing us to cover our ears. Once the howl stopped, we all look up to see the Ursa stopping in its tracks and shuffling around as if it was afraid.

Suddenly, a large Beowulf as dark as the void dashed out of the trees behind the Ursa and hamstrung it. Collapsing to the ground roaring in pain, the Ursa tried to take a swing at its attacker. As the Beowulf and the Ursa traded blows, we all stand there astounded. Weiss pointed at the center of the clearing unsure of herself, "Why are-Why are the Grimm fighting each other?"

Ms. Goodwitch stood there with her riding crop at the ready, "For once Ms. Schnee, I must say I have no idea. I have never seen a Grimm attack another unprovoked." I glance back at the fight to see the Beowulf shoot its hand forward and shove its claws into the neck of the Ursa and brutally tear it out.

We all stand there shocked at what we just witnessed; Yang voices our thoughts, "Holy shit…" The Beowulf looked in our direction causing us to tense up and ready our weapons only for it to turn around and run into the forest out of sight. Yang raises both her hands, "What the hell just happened?"

Ms. Goodwitch lowered her riding crop confused, "I have nothing to say to that. In all my days as a Huntress, I've never seen an unprovoked fight between two Grimm then for the winner to openly ignore the humans. I've never seen it."

As Yang was about to make some witty comment, something suddenly clicked causing her to yell out alarmed, "Where's Davian!"

We all glance around, eventually I turn to my team, "Split into pairs and fan out!" Everyone agrees to the plan, as we were about to split up Ren suddenly pointed to the ridge, "There he is." We all spin around to see Davian reach the top of the hill before he started walking slowly towards us waving with his right arm while he kept his left limp at his side.

 **(POV Davian)**

I wave my hand and yell out, "I'm fine!" before Yang could freak out. We meet in the middle of the clearing and Ruby asks, "Davian, what happened to you?"

I nod my head towards the dissipating body of the Ursa, "Damn thing threw me against the tree when I wasn't paying attention. How an Ursa stayed that quiet I'll never know."

Ms. Goodwitch pulled out her scroll and snapped pictures of the surrounding area and took notes about the incident. After a few minutes, she put her scroll away and turned back to us, "Has everyone gotten their sap?" We all nod and hold up our jars, "Good, let's get back to Beacon."

As we started hiking back through the forest to our evac point, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang walked next to me. Yang glanced my side with a stony expression, "How bad Davian, really?"

I wave her off, "Probably just a cracked rib or two, nothing major. I promise to head straight to the infirmary as soon as we get back." Not liking my answer, but accepting it, Yang slung my right arm over her shoulder and helped me limp my way back to the bullhead.

 **-][-**

Yang had me lay down the entire flight, completely ignoring my assurance of being alright. Reaching Beacon in time for supper, I made Yang go with everyone to get dinner while I turned and walked in the opposite direction to the infirmary. When I get there, I opened the door announcing myself, "Hello, Mrs. Klein you in?"

The nurse that helped me during my last visit was sitting behind the front desk. Looking up from the paperwork she'd been doing, she raised a half annoyed eyebrow at me, "Mr. Kadar, what have you done this time?" She stood up from the desk, "We only fixed you up yesterday and while I have no idea how you healed that fast, you shouldn't of already gone back to work."

She handed me some sweatpants and a t-shirt and motioned me to change behind the curtain, "I didn't want to sit around and do nothing. Plus it was only supposed to be a sap collection trip, not anything dangerous."

I stepped out and allowed her to inspect my left shoulder and the bruising along the left side of my torso, "I don't care if it wasn't supposed to be dangerous. Any trip off school campus must be authorized by either the doctor or me, no exceptions." She steps back sighing, "You're shoulder was dislocated and relocated improperly, I'm going to need to reset it then bandage you up." She corralled me back into one of the side rooms and told me to sit down on the bed, "Hold your left arm as far up as you can for me." I do so and she grabbed my wrist and shoulder, "I going to pull it out on the count of three, ok?"

I nod my head, "I've been through much worse Mrs. Klein, so don't think I don't know that old trick. Just pop it out then back in, don't wait."

She shakes her head before yanking sharply then pushing hard, causing my shoulder to pop out then back in with two sickening pops. I take it in silence, gritting my teeth to stop myself from yelling out in pain. She has me lean forward so she could inspect the joint, "There we go, that's set correctly. Now I need to bandage you up so you can get to supper before all the food gone."

I jerk my head towards the door, "The cafeteria is serving chicken, fish, salad, and cookies tonight. I don't expect anything to be left by the time I get back with my team along with JNPR there." She laughs softly, nodding her head in understanding as she tied the end of the bandage into a knot, "All set, go along now and try to make it more than a day before I see you in here again." I thank her and walk out, heading straight for the dorm not feeling very hungry. I walk inside and close the door behind me, stepping into the bathroom to wash any dried blood off. Finishing, I fall into my bed and fall asleep, tired from the day's events.

-][-

I woke up to a sunny Friday morning, chirping birds, and someone knocking on the door connecting RWBY's room from my own. I roll out of my bed and land on my chest with a pained groan. "Owww...F my life." I push myself to my feet holding my side in pain, forgetting that the only thing covering my upper torso were the tight fitting bandages as I answered the door. "What do you *yawn* need?"

Weiss is standing there looking at her scroll before looking up at me, "We agreed we'd go down to...Vale...today."

I raise an eyebrow as her face reddened, "What is it?"

Yang peaks around the door and wolf whistles, "WOOOOH, I haven't seen those muscles in quite a while!"

Weiss had just stopped thinking as she stared, eventually slamming the door in my face screaming, "PUT A SHIRT ON YOU CRUDE IDIOT!"

I stand there smiling as I hear Yang whine, "Aww come on Weiss, that is far from the worst sight to see first thing in the morning." I shake my head smiling and turn to grab some jeans and a button up that would be comfortable with my bandages, getting ready for the girls trip into Vale.

Making our way out to the airship, I realize that Blake has been avoiding eye contact with me since my freak-out in the infirmary. I tap Yang on the shoulder, "You three go on ahead, I need to ask Blake something real fast."

Yang shrugs before she boarded the airship with Ruby and Weiss while I stayed behind, "What is it Blake?" She didn't answer, still not meeting my eyes. I sigh, "Blake, you didn't do a thing to me back then."

I see her ears droop under her bow, "But I didn't try to stop them. They didn't allow anyone off base and forced everyone to go to the demonstrations. I admit it, I felt betrayed by you, but I wasn't angry enough to cause anyone that kind of pain, ever!" Thinking she was finished venting, I pulled her towards the airship, "I should've at least tried. We were practically siblings, but apparently that wasn't enough for me to try to stop it."

She just stood there as her eyes began misting. I step forward and give her a hug, "You always believed in fighting for our rights, more so than the average member. But I remember that you were practically raised by Fang and didn't have any friends except for Adam until my family and I came along. You aren't the only one who's been acting like we never knew each other. I've been unfair to you since coming here; but I don't blame you for following the people you had grown to trust." I step away as she wipes her eyes, smiling a bit, "Come on, I said I'd get you girls some ice cream or something as a thank you.

As we walked on to the ship, I could see the burden that had been weighing her down for days finally lift off her shoulders, allowing her to be at peace for the first time in years. We arrived at the waiting areas and spotted Yang waving us over. I sat down and Blake left to get some water, leaving Yang to huff in annoyance, "How did your 'talk' go?" I raise an eyebrow at her question, causing Yang to huff again, "Forget it."

I glance confused at Ruby who was sitting across from us, "She's jealous because she saw you hugging Blake" she said flatly, much to her sisters ire.

Yang's face went red, "RUBY!" Ruby giggled in her seat, swinging her feet. Yang nervously glanced at me to catch me smiling, "Can we just forget this, please?"

I chuckle, knowing my answer would mess with her, "Sure." She just sat there gritting her teeth in her seat, causing Ruby and I to laugh at her behavior. Once I stopped, I looked over Ruby's shoulder to see Blake coming back. Deciding not to have team drama right now I set things straight, "Blake and I aren't together Yang, you can calm down." I could practically hear the gears in her head grind to a halt as I saw steam rise off her head, resulting her to break down in her seat.

Blake sat down next to Ruby who was holding her sides, she was laughing so hard. "What's wrong with Yang?"

I wave her off, "Don't worry about it; she'll be back to normal by the time we land." Blake accepts the answer and proceeds to talk with Ruby and Weiss about what we were going to do in town for the duration of the flight while I just closed my eyes and power napped.

My prediction proved to be true as we landed and all walked out into Vale. Ruby was quick to pull us all to the nearest ice cream shop using her semblance, "Comeoncomeoncomeonlet'sgeticecream!" Ruby ran up to the display-case and presses her nose against the glass before looking at me, "What can I get?" I motion for her to take her pick causing her eyes to gain a sparkle in them as she quickly asked the cashier for a double scoop of strawberry and cookies n' cream.

After Yang ordered orange sherbet and Blake got raspberry, I look at Weiss who seemed very out of place in the ice cream parlor, "What do you want Weiss?"

She glances around uncomfortably, "You don't have to pay for me, I can more than cover it."

I shake my head, "No can do, I said I'd pay for you four as a thank you and I'm going to do just that. Go ahead and pick something...please."

She resigns herself and quietly orders a small bowl of mint chocolate chip. I hand the cashier my card before we all take our ice cream and leave the shop enjoying our cold treats. As we finish, I turn to Weiss, "I never thought I'd see the day when a Schnee was that uncomfortable doing something as trivial as ordering ice cream."

Weiss huffed and crossed her arms, "I just don't have much experience doing things like this without having a bodyguard watching every move I, or a passerby makes like a hawk."

I 'ah' as we continue walking, "Fair enough. Well, where to next?"

Weiss spoke up, "I was wondering if we could make a quick stop at the docks before the movie, there are some people I'd like to welcome to Vale."

Blake pulled out her scroll and checked it, "The movie starts in an hour and a half so we should have time."

As we start walking towards the other side of town, I turn to ask Yang something, "By the way, what happened to CRDL and Anderson afterwards?" Not receiving an answer I glance back to see Yang pursing her lips and not looking at me, smirking a bit. I was becoming a little concerned, "Yang...what did you do?"

She just pauses for a second, "Leeeet's just say that the Emerald Forest has a new clearing."

I start laughing slightly, "Yaaaang, now what did I say about beating on the assholes of the school?"

Yang giggled a bit, very proud of her deed. I shake my head smirking at her sense of punishment. "I don't regret a thing."

I actually laugh out loud for the first time in a while, "Of course you don't."

We walk further into town to see the same old man that worked at the Dusk till' Dawn shop hoisting up a banner. I just stop walking and stare at him incredulously, "How many jobs does this guy have? He's like ninety-eight years old!"

Everyone ignores me as Weiss clasped her hand together, "The Vytal Festival! Oh this is absolutely wonderful!"

I lean forward to get a better look at Weiss' face, "Be careful Weiss, you wouldn't want your face to freeze like that would you? It would ruin the whole Ice Queen thing."

Ruby agreed with me, "Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much Weiss, it's kinda weirding me out."

Weiss turned around to face us, "How could you not smile? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances, parades, a tournament, oh the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking."

Yang just sighed and crossed her arms, "You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring."

Weiss turned her head with an annoyed face, "Quiet you."

I smirked as her face went back to the expression Weiss normally wore, "Thaaat's better, I was getting worried."

As Weiss was about to make some snarky comment to me, Yang interrupted her, "Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?"

Ruby covered her nose with her hand, "Agh, they smell like fish."

Weiss just clasped her hands in front of her and stood a little straighter, "I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today," she turned to face us, "and as I representative of Beacon, I feel it is my solemn duty to welcome to this fine kingdom."

She turns to walk closer to the ships as Blake leaned over towards us, "She wants to spy on them to have the upper hand in the tournament."

Weiss was very quick to deny that accusation, "Ugh, you can't prove that!"

Ruby, who had been walking behind us suddenly stopped to look down the street, "Whoa!" We all move to get a better look to find the windows smashed, the front door bashed down, police tape everywhere, and two officers standing in front of the shop. We all walk down the street to find out what was going on. Ruby was the first to ask, "What happened here?"

The officer with sunglasses looked up from his notepad, "Robbery, second dust shop to be hit this week."

The girls continue on to listen to the officers as I take a closer look at the damage caused, "Damn, that's going to be expensive."

I was about to comment on that when Weiss heard something she didn't like, "Hmm, the White Fang, what an awful bunch of degenerates."

Blake turns towards her offended, hiding it well, but offended, "What's your problem?"

Weiss acts surprised, "My problem? I just simply don't care for the criminally insane."

Looking slightly angrier but going unnoticed by everyone but me Blake stood her ground, "The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths, there a collection of misguided faunus."

As Blake and Weiss go back and forth, I lean in towards Yang to whisper, "Weiss still doesn't know I was in the Fang before coming to Vale does she?"

Yang nodded, "Yeah, I asked her why she hadn't looked you up yet, but she said she felt like it wasn't her business to snoop around something personal like that. A rare moment of chivalry from her."

I nod my head as I hear Weiss say something I was sick of hearing, "Those faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal!"

I lightly kick Yang and send Blake a subtle 'don't say anything' look before either of them could bite Weiss' head off, "Ah hem"

Realizing her mistake, Weiss slowly turned to me apologetically, "Uh, I mean I-"

I glare at her, "You should pick your words very carefully from now on Weiss." She just looked down shamefully, "I know that is how you've been brought up to think, but you need to be a bit more sensitive than that."

As she was about to apologize, we hear someone yell, "HEY, STOP THAT FAUNUS!"

We all sprint back to the docks in time to see a monkey faunus jump off a boat and throw a banana peel at a police officer. I cross my arms pointing at the faunus, "I like this guy." As he runs by he gives Blake a wink without missing a step and continues down the street and around the corner, "Smooth to."

Yang speaks up, "Well Weiss, you wanted to see the competition, aaand there it goes."

Weiss points up into the air, "Quick, we have to observe him!" Taking off after the faunus with us on her heals, she couldn't stop in time to stop from running into some ginger girl. Weiss looked up to see the monkey faunus jump up onto the rooftops and disappear, not even registering the fact she was laying on top of someone "No, he got away!"

Yang awkwardly point at the red haired girl, "Uuuum, Weiss…"

Weiss looked confused for a second before looking down at the...why is the girl smiling creepily? Weiss shoot to her feet yelping.

The red haired girl waves to us, "Salutations."

Ruby says hi as Yang looked even more confused, "Are you...ok?" The way she said it made me think that she was confused as to if she was asking physically or mentally.

The girl continued to lay on the ground, "I'm wonderful, thank you for asking."

We all share a glance as Yang continues to ask our questions for us, "Do yooouu want to get up?"

I swear the girl looked like she was thinking about it, "Yes!" She then pushes herself to her feet with nothing but her arms, making me wonder if I should be impressed by her or nervous as we all take a step back. "My name's Penny, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

We all proceed to introduce ourselves, Ruby goes first, "Hi Penny, I'm Ruby."

"I'm Weiss."

"Blake."

I bow my head slightly, "Davian."

Yang scratches her head, "Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Blake quickly hit her, "Oh, I'm Yang."

The now named Penny bounces in her spot, "It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Weiss leans back slightly, "You already said that."

Penny thinks about that for a second, "So I did."

Weiss awkwardly tries to say goodbye, "We-well sorry for running into you."

The others start to walk away as I stand there for a second longer thinking something was off about Penny until Ruby said bye, drawing me out of my thought process, "Take care friend."

Once we were several feet away, Yang tries to say what we all were thinking, "She was...weird…"

Weiss looks around, "Now where did that faunus rif-" she stops herself glancing at me, "that faunus run off to?"

We all suddenly stop to find Penny somehow standing in front of us, "What did you call me?"

Weiss just points to where Penny just was and shoots her head back and forth, trying to figure out how she moved so fast without a semblance. Yang grimaces, "Oh I'm really sorry, I definitely didn't think you heard me!"

She ignores what Yang said, "No, not you," she pushed Yang and I aside and walked up to Ruby, "Youuu."

Ruby starts freaking out and spoke in a high pitch voice, "Me? I-I-I don't know-I-what I-um-"

Penny starts acting really excited, "You called me friend! Am I really your friend?"

"Uuuuummm," she looks over Penny shoulder at us as who all signaled noooooooo, "Y-ya sure, why not?"

We all collapsed to the ground as Penny grinned happily and jumped about excited, "Sen-sational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!" She then proceeds to grab me by the arm, "Here's a cute boy!"

Yang quickly grabbed me back muttering something like "Mine" under her breath but I wasn't too sure.

Ruby groans and leans over to Weiss, "Is this what is was like when you met me?"

Weiss dust's herself off, "No, she seems far more coordinated."

Getting over the whole, calling me cute thing, Yang tries to move things along, "Sooo, what are you doing in Vale?"

Penny stood straight and said proudly, "I'm here to fight in the tournament."

Weiss looked very surprised, though to be fair, we all were, "Wait, you're fighting in the tournament?"

As the others go back and forth, I lean over to Yang and whisper, "Something's off about her, and not in the way you're thinking."

Before she could respond, I see Weiss grab Penny by the shoulders, "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean know that monkey tailed...rapscallion?"

Penny tilted her head, "The who?"

Weiss forgot herself as she held up a badly drawn picture of the monkey faunus (Which I'm trying to figure out how she drew in the time she had), "The filthy faunus from the boat!"

Luckily I was able to rein in my anger and Yang was still holding onto my arm, allowing me to stop her from doing anything. Unfortunately, Blake was done with Weiss' views, "Why do you keep saying that!"

Weiss, realizing what she said tries to quickly apologize, "That's not what I-"

Blake walked forward, "Stop calling him rapscallion, stop calling him a degenerate, he's a person!"

By now Weiss was angry, "Oh, I'm sorry, would you like me to stop referring to the trashcan as a trashcan, or this lamp post as a lamp post?"

Blake yells out, "STOP IT!"

Weiss held her arms out, "Stop what? He clearly broke the law; give him time, he'll probably join up with those other faunus in the White Fang."

By now Yang was starting to burst into flames which began burning me, but I held on to stop her from killing Weiss. Blake just clenched her hand and yelled, "UGH! You ignorant little brat!"

I grab a hold of Ruby and Yang and pull them after Weiss and Blake who had proceeded to walk back towards the airships, "Come on you two, and Yang calm down. I don't like what she was saying either, but it was the way she was brought up, don't blame her too much. If you're going to blame anyone, blame the people who raised her."

Finally calming down, she mutters "fine." We head back to Beacon as Blake and Weiss continued to argue the entire way. Reaching the dorm, I'd be surprised if Yang didn't beat the crap out of Weiss right then and there.

As the argument reached a melting point, Weiss said something that even I couldn't take it anymore, "Do you want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, AND MURDERERS!"

Without thinking of the consequences, Blake yelled out "WELL MAYBE WE WERE JUST TIRED OF BEING PUSHED AROUND!"

Silence reigned king in the room as a look of horror crossed Blake's face. Weiss and Ruby both just looked shocked. But it was the raging heat and sound of shifting metal coming from my left that made me realize that there was a dragon in the room with us that had just heard something she did not like. I quickly wrapped my arms around Yang and pull her to the ground to stop her from killing Blake, "YOU BITCH! YOU'RE WITH THOSE PEOPLE THAT TORTURED DAVIAN FOR THREE AND A HALF GOD-DAMN YEARS!" Before she could yell anymore and announce Blake's secret to all of Vale, I overload her senses with my aura, causing her to fall unconscious.

I look up worried to find Ruby looking between Blake and I. Weiss standing there motionless, and Blake on the verge of tears, starting to panic, "I-I-" with that she dashed out the door and out of the building.

While everyone was still just standing there shocked and Yang unconscious on the floor, I looked out the window to see Blake running towards the docks. I quickly turn to Ruby, "Rubes, please keep an eye on Yang, she's not going to be thinking straight when she wakes up. I'm going to go keep an eye on Blake. Okay?" She nods her head numbly as I grab my equipment and teleport out the window and free-fell the two floors to the ground and run to catch up with Blake before she did anything rash.

When I catch up, I see Blake wiping away tears that were streaming down her face with her cat ears free in the wind. Before I could speak, I hear a voice come from my left, "I knew you'd look better without the bow."

She looks behind her to find the monkey faunus from the docks sitting on top of a lamp post. She turns to run for the docks again when she sees me standing there, causing her to break down into tears and collapsed to the ground. "I'm so sorry Davian, I should have done something, I so so sorry."

I look up sadly at the now concerned monkey faunus and motion him to help Blake to her feet, "I'm going to run ahead and get us some tickets down to Vale, this is the last place she ought to be right now." He nods his head and helps Blake to her feet as she continues to bawl into her hands and they slowly walk after me to the airship.

-][-

 **(POV Ruby)**

Hearing slight movement in the room, I wake up stretching, *yawn* "Morni-".

*crash* "I'M GOING TO KILL HER!"

I squeal and fall out of my bed onto the floor, "Owww". I sit up to find our door blown off its hinges and an enraged Yang disappearing through the hole. I scramble to my feet and run after her, "Yang wait!"

She turns around, eyes red and hair ablaze, "WHY? SHE LIED TO US ABOUT SOMETHING DAMN IMPORTANT! DON'T THINK FOR SECOND I'M GOING TO LET THAT SLIDE!"

I run in front of her and try to push her back ignoring the heat, "Yang please, trust Davian. He told me to keep an eye on you while he kept an eye on Blake."

Yang stopped walking, "What do you mean 'keep an eye on her'? He should be even more pissed at her then I am!" I shake my head, "HOW IS HE NOT MAD AT HER? FOR ALL WE KNOW SHE WAS THERE WHEN THEY HAD HIM!"

I put my hands on my hips and stand in front of her defiantly, "We don't know that. Yang please calm down...for me." I put on my best begging face, hoping she would listen.

She looked around herself to see the doors to several rooms open with people peeking out. After a few seconds her face calmed and the flames disappeared, "Alright...I'll listen to what she has to say before I start punching."

I hug her, "Thank you."

She sighs before we walk back into our room, "What do we do?"

I look out the window towards Vale, "We have to get down to Vale and find them. We can't do anything until then."

Weiss had been silent up till this point, "Why are we even looking for them? We should be reporting them to the headmaster for being members of the White Fang."

Yang snapped back at her, "Don't you dare throw Davian in with her! They tortured him three and a half-Wait...how do you know Davian was in the White Fang?"

Weiss pointed at her symbol, "I put his surname into the Schnee database last night to get quicker results and their name came back on the watch and observe list." He shook her head scowling, "Those faunus have killed several members of my family's company, including people in my family. I refuse to go searching for terrorists-

"WEISS, LISTEN" I yell out angrily. Weiss stops, surprised to actually see me angry, "How much do you know about Davian, and I mean really know about him?"

Weiss raised an eyebrow, "It told me he used to be in the Fang. I didn't want read anything else after that in case he...he had killed someone I knew."

Yang threw her hands into the air, "Then you have no right to judge him and his family if you don't know the entire story! You have no idea what they did to him! His family was part of the White Fang before the reform and tried to leave once it did change." Yang got up in Weiss' face, "Davian's parents sent him away ahead of them because they couldn't get out safely. But as soon as they managed to get away, the Fang kidnapped Davian and tortured him for THREE AND A HALF FUCKING YEARS! So don't you dare think Davian is with them!"

Weiss scowled at Yang, "How do you know he's still not with them? What if he was still with them and they were just getting him back for information on something. Just because he said they tortured him doesn't mean they did!"

Yang punched Weiss in the face, sending her stumbling back onto her bed, "DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT!"

"YANG," I rush over to Weiss to make sure she was ok, "calm down!"

Weiss sat up, covering a bruise forming on her cheek, "You brute! What was that for?"

I quickly grabbed a cold water bottle and gave it to Weiss to stop the swelling, "You don't understand how much we love Davian Weiss. He might as well be an older brother to me, I know he can't be lying, there's no way."

Weiss huffed out, "How do you know?"

Looking out at the floor Yang spoke softly, "You didn't see them Weiss, he's covered in them."

Weiss looked confused, "Covered in wha-"

Tears started streaming down Yang's face as she cried softly. "He's covered in scars he didn't have when he left. Fire, blades, whips, pliers...there wasn't much they didn't do to him."

Weiss and I stand there wide-eyed at Yang's description of Davian's wounds. I stutter, "I-Is he going to be...ok?"

Yang shrugged sadly, eye's puffy, "I don't know Ruby, I hope so. Sometimes I see the old Davian come out, but...most of the time he's closed off and...different. Not that I blame him, after seeing some of those wounds I have no idea how he survived, and that's not even counting any mental trauma."

We stand in the middle of the room silently until Weiss turned to grab her scroll and her weapon Myrtenaster. I tilt my head at her, "Where are you going Weiss?"

She hands me my cloak and Yang her coat, "I have some apologizing to do and we have teammates to find. I'll take some of your advice Ruby and listen before I make a decision on how I feel about them."

Yang smile's softly while I split the biggest grin ever and tackle Weiss with a hug, "THANK YOU SO MUCH WEISS!"

Weiss lightly hit the top of my head, "Let go of me you dolt! Let go!"

Yang picks me up by the hood, "Come on Rubes, let's get going before they get any farther away."

-][-

 **(POV Davian)**

Sun Wukong is definitely the type of guy I could get along with. He may seem like a jokester who doesn't have a care in the world, but after the last couple of days I knew he can be serious if the need calls for it. We were currently sitting in a cafe in downtown Vale as Blake told Sun about her time in the White Fang, "So I left, I decided I no longer wanted to aid in their violence, and instead I would dedicate my life to becoming a Huntress. So here I am, a criminal hiding in plain view, all with the help of a little black bow." Blake glanced up and twitched her ears under the bow, finishing her story to Sun.

Sun sat there with a solemn look, "So, have you told your friends any of this?"

Blake closed her eyes and bowed her head in shame. I speak up before she was forced to say something she didn't want to, "Our team just found out, but let's just say that two of our three other teammates didn't take it very well, especially her partner."

Sun turned to look at me, "How bad we talking?"

I shake my head, "As in killing bad."

Sun leaned back raising an eyebrow, "She wanted to kill Blake, seriously? I understand feeling betrayed by Blake for not completely trusting her, but what made her hate Blake that much?"

Blake crossed her arms on the table and laid her head down, not wanting to think about what she did, or rather didn't do. I start explaining, "My family used to be in the Fang as well before the reform, and Blake and I may as well of been siblings at the time. But when the Fang's way of doing things shifted, my parents sent me away to Vale ahead of them to keep me safe." I take of sip of orange juice before continuing, "I was eleven and a half at the time and started attending Signal Academy on Patch. I quickly became very good friends with Ruby and Yang; they were the red and yellow girls you saw at the docks. Once they found out I didn't have anywhere to go, their father Taiyang took me in."

A look of nostalgia crossed my face as I talked about my three years with Yang, Ruby, and Tai, "It was the best time of my life, they basically became a second family to me. When I was fourteen, Yang and I were training out in a clearing behind her house when the Fang attacked and took me." I sigh mournfully, "My parents arrived later that night, expecting to find me safe and sound. Instead they arrived to find police tape and me missing."

Looking to my left, I could see Blake's shoulder shaking slightly after hearing the happiness I was taken from. I sigh before continuing, "Once we got back, the Fang had ceased all operations, calling everyone back to their main base for a 'demonstration'." I sigh again, "I'd rather not go into details, but just know that Blake was there in the crowd and felt...betrayed by me at time, which is understandable considering her upbringing with the Fang. They held me for three years before I was able to escape, but...that's a lot of time to hurt one teenager."

By now, Blake was crying softly, disgusted with herself and the people she used to call comrades. I nudge her shoulder to get her attention and she turns her sad yellow eyes towards me, "Blake you share no blame in this. I've told you before and I'll tell you again, there was nothing you could have done to stop what happened. But now, we can fight to stop anything like that from ever happening again."

Blake dried her eyes, "How?"

I jerked my head in the direction of the repaired dust shop, "Let's find out if the Fang really are behind the robberies, it's a good place to start." Blake nodded her head as I turned back to Sun, "So, what do you think?"

Sun shook his head, "Do you mean about you being taken, because if you do then I'm even more pissed off at the Fang. Bastards will get what they deserve ten-fold. If you're talking about the robberies, then count me in, no way I'm missing out on the fun."

I stand up and pat in on the shoulder, "I knew I liked something about you, come on let's go."

We stand up and start walking down the street, "So what's the plan now" Sun asked?

Blake looked thoughtful, "I still don't think the White Fang are behind these robberies, they've never needed that much dust before."

Practically seeing a light bulb appear above Sun's head, he pitched his thought, "What if they did? I mean, the only way to prove that they didn't do it, is to go to the place where they would most likely go to if they were to do it, and not find them there...right?" He finished his thought with a double finger point at us.

I look at Sun in a new light, "That was most impressive, I have no idea how you didn't trip over your tongue on that one."

Blake sighs, "The only things is, I have no idea where that would be."

Sun thought hard for a second, "Well, while I was on the ship, I heard some guys talking about offloading a huge shipment of dust coming in from Atlas."

I stopped him, "How big are we talking about, dust rounds, crystals...what?"

Sun stuck his arms out as far as he could, "Huuuggggeee, big Schnee company freighter."

I clap my hands together, "Well, that sounds like a target to me, let's get there before dark." Blake and Sun nodded their heads and we take off running towards the docks.

-][-

Laying on a roof next to Blake, we waited for any suspicious activity to take place. Hearing some scuffling, I looked to my right to see Sun jump and land next to I is holding some fruit in his arms, "Did I miss anything?"

Blake shook her head, "Not really, they've offloaded all the crates from the boat. Now they're just sitting there."

Sun nodded his head, "Cool," then showing her an apple grinning, "I stole you some food."

Blake raised an eyebrow, "Do you always break the law without a second thought?"

"Hey, weren't you in a cult or something?" Sun countered. Blake just glared at Sun, "Ok, to soon."

Just as he finished, a bullhead flew over our heads and began to land. I jump to my feet, "I'm going to get on the other side of them." Before they could protest, I ran towards the roofs edge and jumped, teleporting right as I left the roof and landed on the adjacent warehouse. I do this a few more times and land in a crouch behind some crates right as the doors to the three bullheads bullhead opened up.

Looking to the other side of the dock, I see Torchwick along with several White Fang members step out, "HEY, what's the hold up? We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, sooo why don't you animals try to pick up the pace."

As I caught sight of the White Fang symbol, I felt unbridled anger well up inside of me. I close my eyes and push it down whispering, "This isn't like me." As I had been sitting there, oblivious, I was suddenly pulled out of it by a violent explosion. Opening my eyes, I saw Blake go flying back and scramble for cover as Torchwick shot explosive rounds at her from his cane.

I jump up to rush over and help her, but before I could get halfway across the dock, I was stopped by some of the White Fang that came with Torchwick. One with a pistol pointed at me snarling, "Get out of here traitor, just because you're faunus doesn't mean we won't attack." I just stood there waiting for them to attack. As I was about to spring forward, I heard several more pairs of boots hit the ground behind me. Turning, I found a bullhead dropping off two more squads of six, making it an eighteen to one fight. The leader of the group pointed his tomahawk at me, "We gave you fair warning, which is more than we normally give. Now face your death like...a...what the hell?"

He stuttered to a stop as my scent changed from the familiar smell of a wolf faunus to...something else. I smiled underneath my cowl and cracked my knuckles, "How about this, I give you a chance to run before I get a little payback." Even before the words finished leaving my mouth, I realized what I was saying and was surprised; I wasn't one to get this mad at someone, even the Fang.

Several of the lower rank Fang began to slowly back away fearfully until tomahawk yelled at them, "Get back into position idiots! He can't take all of us and he knows it!"

With their confidence renewed, I was surrounded again as they readied their weapons. Tomahawk stepped forward swallowing his fear, "Make it easy on yourself and let me make it quick." I ignored him and prepared myself for the inevitable charge. The man sighed, "Very well, at least make it a good fight." With that they all charged, intending to overwhelm me.

As soon as they were all close together, I disappeared in a puff of gray mist and teleported all around them creating a thick smoke screen. As soon as they couldn't see many of the faunus panicked and ran, but didn't get very far.

 **(POV Blake)**

I watch as the remains of a bullhead fell into the water after being cut in half by that Penny girl. I then took stock of my surroundings to find Ruby, Weiss and Yang walking towards me but stopped and stared wide-eyed at something behind me. I turn to see a cloud of slow moving gray mist enveloping a section of the docks, but that's not what caught our attention. What caught it was the screaming coming from within the cloud. Suddenly a single White Fang recruit stumbled out of the cloud and fell to his knees right outside of it.

He looked up reaching for a weapon that wasn't there, but not to fight us, "GET ME THE HELL AWAY FROM THIS MONS-" He didn't get further than that as something reached out and snatched the Faunus back into the mist screaming. As suddenly as the screaming started, it became dead quiet with the exception for pained whimpering. Its then that I realize that I didn't see Davian, I ran towards the mist hoping he wasn't in it.

Before any of us could reach it to investigate, a figure dressed in black armor walked out of the mist as it dissipated revealing eighteen badly wounded White Fang members. Sun stands next to me, "Is that Davian?" We all snap our heads back in his direction and look closer to find that it was Davian. Sun took a step back, "Okay…that's creepy as hell." I elbow Sun in the side at look back to find Davian gone.

"Give her a chance to explain Yang, please."

I spun around to find Davian behind Sun and I talking to Yang. She turned and glared at me with red eyes. Looking down shamefully, we all walked over to some crates to talk. Still looking at the ground I spoke, "I understand that you're ang-"

Yang cut me off, "Just tell me if you had anything to do with Davian?"

Davian spoke up, "Of course she didn't," I look at him, "Blake and I knew each other very well before my family left, we were brother and sister in everything but blood."

Yang looked confused, "Then why did you two act like you didn't know each other?"

Davian didn't answer that one, causing Yang to get suspicious and turn to me, "Well? Answer me."

I look down at my shoes, "I was in the crowd when they did the...demonstration, almost every member of the Fang was. I admit, I felt...betrayed by what his family had done, but never bad enough to do anything like that to him."

Yang's hair started to heat up a bit, "What do you mean 'betrayed'? I thought you people were fighting for freedom? But when one family wanted to leave, you don't allow them to!"

I opened my mouth but no words came out. Davian put a hand on Yang's shoulder, "Don't Yang, you don't know what it was like for her growing up."

Yang snapped at him, "How can you so understand! She was there and watched them hurt you! Even worse though is the fact that she watched them torture someone that she saw as a bother but did nothing to stop it!"

I start to stand up to run, but Sun put a hand on my shoulder and kept me down smiling softly, "Don't run again, it'll work out."

I nod my head and listen do Davian tell them about my childhood, (not anything I wouldn't want them to know of course) "She was practically raised by the Fang Yang; you can't blame her for siding with her family. She hated what they did to me, as did many others, but there wasn't a thing any of them could have done to stop it. The higher ranking members were the ones who handled everything, not her."

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang were silent as they processed the information of me not having any family except for the Fang. Ruby knew what it was like to lose a parent, but she hadn't fully understood at the time. Weiss hadn't lost anyone in her immediate family, but her parents might as well of not been there at all growing up while her sister was always busy. Yang, she understood the most out of three having lost two parents. Her real mother and Summer both were gone for different reason, but she might as well of not had her dad either during those times. He just...shut down after her mother left and Summer died, leaving her to take care of Ruby alone.

I cried silently as I remembered how lonely I felt until Davian and his family had shown up. While Adam was my friend, he was more of a mentor, which wasn't the same thing. I choke out, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't want any of that to happen, but I was just so angry at the ti-". My voice was cut off as I felt someone wrap me up in a hug. Opening my eyes, I found Yang hugging me, "Don't be sorry, I forgive you and I'm sure Davian has said so many times. Don't be sorry."

I pull away and wipe my eyes, ""Yo-You aren't mad at me for lying?" Yang shook her head. I smile before turning to Weiss, "Weiss, I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with them I-"

"Stop," Weiss stood up in front me, "do you have any idea how long we've been searching for you?" I shake my head, "Twelve hours, that means I've had twelve hours to think about this, and in that twelve hours I've decided...I don't care."

My eyes widen, "You don't care?"

She pointed in the direction of the White Fang that were being treated before heading to prison, "You said you're not one of them anymore, right?"

I nod my head, "No I-I haven't since I was younger-"\

Weiss held her and up, "Ap-bup-bup-bup. I don't want to hear it, all I want to know is that next time something this big comes up, you come to your teammates, and not some," she stopped herself and looked at Sun, reworded her statement, "someone else."

I wipe my eye and smile, "Of course."

Ruby looked between us before squealing, "YA, TEAM RUBY IS BACK TOGETHER!"

We all step forward as Weiss sticks a finger in Sun's face, "I'm still not sure how I feel about you."

Sun laughed nervously as Ruby looked around, "Hey wait a minute, where's Penny?"

Davian jerked his head in the direction of a car that was driving away, "Some man in a lab coat came and picked her up." Ruby looks down disappointed, "You were starting to like her weren't you?"

Ruby nodded her head, "Yeah, she may be a little odd, but she stayed and helped us look for you all day even though I'm sure she had other things she was doing."

Davian reached down and ruffled her hair, "I'm sure we'll have the opportunity to say thank you some other time." Davian looked up at the officers and said, "They told me we could head home, apparently it's not uncommon for Beacon students to get involved in stuff like this." He shakes Sun's hand, "Fun working with you Sun, hope to see you again sometime."

Sun laughed, "You won't have to worry about that man, my team and I are going to be exchange students here. I just came early to get the lay of the land. I'll introduce you guys to my team when they arrive, catch ya later." With that Sun ran and jumped up onto a roof and disappeared.

Davian turned back to us, "Let's get back to Beacon, we have Winter break soon and have to prepare for finals." 

Yang groaned as we started walking back towards the airship, "Already? But it's the weekend."

I laugh as Ruby jumped onto Davian's back and proclaimed, "ONWARD MY NOBAL STEED! Let's get back and go to bed so we can enjoy the rest of our weekend before it's over!" With that we all made our way back to Beacon laughing and joking around, a team again.

 **HOLY CRAP 11,157 words, that's huge (for me at least). Sooo hey guys, kind of a long wait, sorry about that. As I said at the top I was very busy. Good news is that I should be updating at a normal time for now, at least until something else comes up. So I'd like to say that all the really depression back-story is done for now. I have one more spot planned, but there may be more if the situation calls for it. Another thing I'm going to say is that if I finish season two and any original chapters before season three of RWBY ends, then the story will go on a pause so I can see what happens before I start typing again. The reason is that I don't want to change any major plot points that would completely change the RWBY-verse. So yeah, that's that. Thank-you for reading and PM me any chapter ideas you'd like to see in my story.**

 **Archangel Out...**


	9. Chapter 8 - Let Winter Break Begin

**Time for chapter eight everyone and I'm excited to tell you guys that I'm starting an original story arc for finals and Winter break. That means a lot of happy times as well as break at Patch and Christmas for RWBY plus one, so let's get to it. _IMPORTANT NOTE AT BOTTOM!_**

With the semester coming to a close, we all found ourselves sitting in chairs in a circle reviewing for finals as Weiss read the chapter. "The Grimm Boarbatusk is heavily armored in the front...Yang, Yang wake up!" I just sat there and watched as Weiss reached over and slammed her textbook down on Yang's snoring head.

*WHAAAAM* "OWWWW!" *CRASH*

I grin at Yang's crumpled form on the floor after she fell backwards out of her chair. Weiss got up and stood over her with hands on her hips, "Yang, this is important! We have to do well on our finals this semester or our Team will take a serious hit grade-wise."

Yang leaned up rubbing her head groaning, "Come on Weiss, how badly could this really hit us?"

I took the textbook out of Weiss' hand and passed it to Ruby before she could whack Yang again, "About as hard as Weiss nailed you with this book. Come on we're almost done with the chapter" I pull Yang to her feet set the chair back up for her.

Yang puts a hand over her heart and leaned forward a bit, "I do declare, aren't you a gentleman. What can I do to thank you kind sir?"

I raise an eyebrow and smirk, "Open up to page two-thirty-two and be so kind to read the chapter."

Yang took her textbook from a giggling Ruby grumbling,"My knight in shining armor everyone." She sighed and began reading boredly, "A head on attack will be futile, so you must either flank the Boarbatusk or yadda-yadda-yadda. Seriously, why are we studying this stuff? It's basic knowledge for Hunters."

Weiss groaned, "We are doing something called reviewing Yang, it's part of the other thing called studying."

Yang smiled and made it a joke, "Ohhhhhh, so that's the weird thing nerds do, ya I don't do that."

Blake set her textbook down, "Maybe we should stop for tonight, we've reviewed almost everything we'll need for our finals tomorrow."

Yang threw down her textbook and laughed, "Want to get back to your 'special' book kitty cat?"

Blake glared at Yang hatefully and was about to reply before Ruby spoke up, "What's special about Blake's book?" Blake's face went red as four pairs of eyes turned to stare at her. Two of those four were Yang and I who were grinning. Weiss was as red as Blake because she was the one to accidentally find Blake's secret stash. Finally Ruby was staring at her confused, trying to figure out what everyone was privy to besides her. She pouted and crossed her arms, "What's going on?"

Yang pick Ruby up and hugged her tightly, "Ohhhhh don't ever change!"

Ruby wiggled around and wined, "Yaaaaaanng, set me down! I'm not a little kid anymore!"

Yang glanced behind Ruby at me and smiled as I walked up behind her. She dropped Ruby, who expected to land on the floor. Instead I caught her and threw her onto my shoulders, "Come on Rubes, let's go get some food."

Ruby leaned forward to look me in the eyes, "Can I get some cookies?" I smile and nod my head, "YAAAY! GO GO GO GO GO!"

I laugh, "Definitely not a kid anymore."

She hits the top of my head, "Silence, servant! I demand you to take your queen to the dining hall for dinner."

I start walking straight for the cafeteria smiling, "As you wish your majesty, I will head there with utmost importance." I glance behind me to see my team behind me smiling and laughing at Ruby's playacting, even Weiss was smiling at her partner, "We finally growing on ya Weiss?"

She immediately wiped her face of any positive emotion, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Yang threw her arms around Weiss and Blake's shoulders, "Awwww I knew you cared Weiss."

Blake just rolled her eyes smiling and returned to her book as Weiss scoffed, "Don't think for a second I'm beginning to tolerate your atrocious living habits Yang."

Ruby leaned back, allowing her to see Weiss upside down, "You'll get used to it eventually Weiss."

Weiss huffed annoyed, "That's what I'm afraid of. If I get used to such rude and inappropriate habits, then my own might deteriorate."

Yang punched Weiss lightly in the shoulder, or what Yang thought as lightly. "It'll do ya some good Weiss, you need to relax sometimes."

Ruby waved her hands excitedly, still hanging upside down, "CHRISTMAS! What better time to relax than during one of the best times of year! There's cookies, presents, food, family, and fun!"

Weiss sighed, "Have you forgotten who my family is? We haven't all been in the same room together in years, let alone have an actual Christmas party."

We walk into the cafeteria as Blake just shrugged, "I was planning to stay at Beacon for the break. It'll be nice and quiet here with most everyone gone."

Sitting down, I didn't think anyone realized how sad she was to not have a family to go back to anymore, she always was good at hiding emotions. "Well it's a good thing I talked to Tai and my parents this morning."

Blake raised an eyebrow as everyone turned to look at me, "What were you talking to them about?"

I pointed my fork at Blake, "Do you really think I was going to let you miss a chance to actually have a Christmas again after so long?"

Blake looked down sheepishly, "We-Well I didn't think you'd remember that-"

I then point my fork at Weiss, "And no offense Weiss, but I kinda figured that you're family wasn't exactly a big happy one."

Weiss just stared forward blankly as she thought about the past years, "None taken Davian, it's an accurate enough assumption."

Ruby spoke through a mouth full of cookie, spraying crumbs everywhere, "Fo, fwat hid oo halk oo had abou?" Realizing she had just sprayed crumbs all over her partner, Ruby quickly swallowed and wiped her mouth. "I'm so sorry Weiss, I didn't mean to!"

Weiss just sighed and brushed off her dress, "It's alright Ruby, just be more diligent next time you eat."

Ruby smiled brightly as Weiss, "Thanks, I promise I will be!" She then turned back to me, "As I was saying what were you talking to dad about?"

I nod my head out the window, "Well, I figured that Weiss would come with us to Patch for the beginning of break then come back after Christmas day and stay with us until break is over." Yang was about to say something pointing at Blake, "Aaand before you say anything, Blake is heading back with us after our finals tomorrow morning. No way you're spending your first Christmas in who knows how many years alone."

Blake just looked surprised, but happy. Weiss looked just as shocked and happy, but hid it better, "I'm sure I'd be able to slip away after Christmas day. Father and Winter will be in for breakfast that morning…before going back to work." She added the last part sadly.

Blake smiled, "I'd be happy to come, thank you."

Ruby cheered, "YAY THIS IS GOING TO BE SO MUCH FUN!"

-][-

With finals done, we all packed our bags and got ready for a trip to Vale. We all met at the airship that would be taking us to Patch and boarded for the four hour flight. The entire way, we all talked about what we were going to do, or at least Ruby just kept telling Weiss and Blake about her home. "You two are going to love it! There's so much to do like ice-skating, restaurants, movies, games, and a lot of other stuff!"

Yang ruffled Ruby's hair, "Calm down Rubes, they'll be able to see everything when we settle down at home."

Ruby rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment, "Right-um-sorry. I'll try to calm down a bi-WE'RE HERE!" Ruby practically jumped over Yang and pressed her nose against the window, "I can see the landing pad guys, we're almost there!"

I stood up, "I'll go ahead and call a cab while you girls get your bags."

Yang looked at me like I was stupid, "Davian...we haven't even landed yet. You can't 'go on ahead'." I just smiled and teleported outside the window and turned around to see my team and several others who happen to be walking by staring at me like I was insane. I gave them a little salute and tipped backwards, falling about two-hundred feet into the freezing water below.

I broke the surface and quickly teleported to a fire on the beach, "Ok, looked cool...probably should've given it a bit more thought." Luckily I was...much more resilient to extreme temperatures than the average human, so I dried quickly by the fire and made my way to the taxi stand.

After arranging for a taxi to take us to Yang's home, I waited for the girls to land. Sitting down on a bench and zipping up my jacket, I looked down the street and just watched the snow fall lazily out of the sky and cover the city in a blanket of white. I smiled as I saw families walk into restaurants and stores laughing merrily and enjoying the season. My smile softened as I realized that this was going to be my first Christmas in a several years.

As I was reminiscing, I suddenly felt myself being spun around to find a very annoyed Weiss standing there with her hands on her hips, "What was that?"

I shrugged, "It was fun?"

Yang and Ruby burst into giggles at Weiss' annoyed expression, "I'll have you know that we had to explain to the flight attendant what had just jumped off their ship."

I shrugged again, "All in good fun, I assure you." I then nodded my head at the taxi, "I'll get the bags, go ahead and get in the car where it's warm."

Ruby and Blake thanked me quickly and rushed into the heated car. Weiss huffed then thanked me calmly and walked to the car, used to the chilly weather. Yang just hefted her bag and Ruby's over her shoulder, "I'll help, it'll be done quicker this way."

I grab Weiss' (or I guess I should say one of many) and Blake's along with my own, "Go ahead Yang, I got it. You're only wearing a long sleeved shirt and your normal jacket."

Yang brushed off comment, "I'm practically a walking furnace, I'm completely comfortable."

I relent, "Riiight, I keep forgetting that your aura keeps you warm." We make a few trips before I slam the trunk into place, "Come on, it's going to take us a few hours to get to your house from here." We squeeze into the back seat of the taxi along with the others, "4392 Seresk Avenue please." The driver nods his head and we take off, officially beginning our Winter break.

-][-

After three hours of driving,we finally pull into a long secluded road that opened up to show a large but cozy two story country style home. Snow had been falling in Vale for several days now, blanketing the house in a sheet of pearly white. Once we pulled up to the front porch, I paid the cabi before climbing out after the others to find Taiyang as well as my parents waiting for us. Ruby and Yang rushed forward and tackled Taiyang to the ground, "DAAAD" they squealed together.

I laugh at a groaning Tai as he welcomed his girls home. I turned and gave my parents a hug, "It's good to be home."

My mother pulls away and gives me a look over, "You look good, in fact I'd say much better than before you left. How are you feeling?"

I smile, "Much, much better. Being around Yang and Ruby as well as the others helped a lot. It really did." I then look behind me at a shy Blake and motion her forward, "Mom, dad, you two remember that I told you that Blake was on my team at Beacon right?"

My mother quickly nodded and hugged Blake, "You have no idea how happy I was to hear that you got away from those people honey."

Blake went as stiff as a board, unsure of what to do. While she may of been VERY close with my family when we were little, she was very surprised that my mom still saw her as her 'adorable little kitten'.

She pulled away from my mom slightly, "You're not angry?"

My father stepped behind my mother and smiled gently, "No, none what-so-ever. We both understand why you stayed. We're just happy that the lessons we tried to teach you got through."

Blake smiled, getting a little teary-eyed and hugged them both, "Thank you, thank you so much."

I smiled and turned around towards the car and began carrying in bags as everyone conversed. Ruby speedily telling Weiss about all the stuff they were going to do while Yang tried to make her take a breath and Blake telling my parents about her time in Beacon.

When I went to grab a second load, Taiyang grabbed two for himself, "Let me help ya Davian, no need for you to carry everything."

I nodded, "Thanks Tai, and thank-you for allowing us to stay here for the break."

He waved me off, "Don't even worry about it, this house is plenty big enough to fit you all as long as one of you aren't against sleeping on a couch."

I shrug as we dropped off the load, "Not a problem, Yang and I have slept in much worse conditions before. Remember when you took us camping that summer and Yang forgot the tent and sleeping bags?"

He laughed, "Do I, the look on her face when she realized we had to stay the night sleeping on the ground! It was priceless!"

I grinned as we picked up our third load, "Yeah it was, though I do feel bad for that squirrel, it was just curious about Yang." I sigh, "I bet he's still falling."

As we walk back to grab the final load I stop Tai, "Get the others inside before they freeze, I'll grab the last couple bags." Tai nodded his head and rounded everyone up and led them inside. I make two more trips and finally drop the last of the bags by the front door. I stretch my back before following the voices, which led me to the back porch. I stepped out the sliding glass door to see Tai telling Weiss and Blake about the house, "

Blake nodded her head, "It's very pretty home Mr. Xiao-Long."

Weiss nodded her head in agreement, "Very, it has a natural beauty that my home always lacked."

Tai nodded his head, "Thank you Ms. Schnee, " he then addressed both Blake and Weiss, "and don't worry about the whole 'Mr.', I am Yang's father after all. Where do you think she gets it?"

I smirk, "I think she picked up a bit too much Tai, Yang's study habits are as bad, if not worse than your own."

Yang punched my arm with, again what she thought was soft, "I'm not that bad!"

I rub my arm groaning, "You were barely passing three of your eight classes this semester."

Yang crossed her arms defiantly, "Ya, and what about the other five?"

I grin and raise an eyebrow, "Barely B's with one A in combat class."

Yang looked confused, "Yeah...that's better than I've ever done."

Weiss sighed as she rubbed her forehead, "How you got into Beacon with your grades is beyond me Yang."

Yang huffed, "I'm not that bad," she turned to Ruby, "Tell them Rubes, tell them I'm not as bad as they say!" Ruby pretend to be enamored by Zwei. Yang slumped where she stood, "Everyone's against me, I knew it, I just knew it."

I chuckled and opened up the door, "Come on, we can talk more inside." We all headed in and spend the rest of the day talking my the fire, eating food, drinking hot chocolate, and enjoying each-others company.

-][-

After Ruby had nodded off Yang picked her up and carried her to her room. Deciding it was late, everyone else headed to bed. Weiss shared a room with Ruby (Of course she had bunk-beds, why wouldn't she?). Blake slept on a spare mattress in Yang's room and my parents got the guest bedroom. I elected to sleep on the living room couch after Yang had suggested I…share her bed. That offer was quickly shot down by Tai before I could even decline.

By the time three hours passed, everyone was asleep and the house was completely silent save for Yang and Tai's snoring. I lay asleep on the couch asleep when I suddenly awoke with a sharp intake of breath. I roll my head to the right and saw it was two in the morning. I lay my head back down with a sigh, now accustomed to my two to three hours of restless sleep per night. Knowing I wouldn't be going back to sleep, I sat up and walked into the kitchen and made myself some decaf coffee then sat down on the front steps of the house enjoying the cool morning air.

I sat alone for several hours just enjoying the silence. When dawn just began lighting the sky, someone spoke behind me, "Why are you up so early?"

I turned my head a bit to find Tai leaning against the door-frame. I turned back to face the trees, "I couldn't sleep."

Tai sat down next to me, "Is that normal?"

I leaned back onto my elbows, "I haven't gotten anywhere near a full eight hours of sleep for four years now."

Tai looked up as snow began falling, "I'm sorry to hear that…does Yang know?"

I shook my head, "No, she just assumes I wake up an hour before them, not several." I shrug, "Though it hasn't affected my training or education. I'm able to keep going longer than most."

We just sat there for a few minutes before Tai stood up patting my shoulder, "I won't breathe a word as long as it doesn't cause any problems. But if it does, don't hide if from anyone, especially Yang, she cares about you as much as your parents."

I chuckled, "Already tried, I didn't think she'd figure anything out but I forgot we know practically everything about each other. I shouldn't be surprised, and as you might expect, she was not happy about it when she did find out I was keeping secrets."

Tai looked thoughtful for a minute, "You love my daughter, don't you."

I stare blankly into the trees, "I-

The sound of squealing reverberated from the second floor window above us, causing Tai and I to look up. We caught sight of Crimson as it barreled into a snow mound not far away. As I stood up to find out what it was, Ruby comically popped her head out of the snow mound like a gofer yelling, "SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW!"

I walked over to Ruby and pulled her out by the back of her shirt, "Having fun Rubes?"

Ruby stuck her arms and legs out wide, "I'M JUST SO EXCITED TO FINALLY BE ON WINTER BREAK! That means snowmen, hot chocolate, and Christmas!"

"Ah, "I drop her back into the snow and take off towards the other end of the yard, diving behind a mound of snow.

Ruby pushed herself out of the snow, "What did you do that fo-" She was suddenly sent sputtering by a face full of snow. She wiped her face as a look of determined playfulness passed over her face, "It...is...on!"

Ruby laughed as she jumped behind her own mound and began returning fire. She made several snowballs and used her semblance to launch them in quick succession. I looked up and my eyes widened at the sight of eight lumps of snow falling towards me. I quickly teleported into the branch of a tree to Ruby's left. Before she could make anymore snowballs, I jumped down and threw the ball I had in my hand. She quickly ducked behind her cover. When she popped back up to throw a snowball, she saw I three feet away. She squeaked in surprise as I tackled her, forcing her into the snow.

I chuckled as I tickled her sides, causing her to thrash about and laugh, "AHAHAH DAV-AHA-DAVIAN STOP-AHAHAH-STOP IT AHAHA!"

I smiled, "Not until you admit defeat Ruby." Ruby looked behind me through teary eyes and giggled, though not because she was being tickled. I raise an eyebrow, "What are you giggling abo-AKH!"

I was suddenly pulled off Ruby and put into a choke hold. I turned my head as best I could to find Yang standing behind me, "You shall no longer torture our fearless leader, she would never surrender to traitorous scum like you!"

I smile, "And what are you going to do about it?"

Yang smiled evilly, "We will defend our leader! Right girls?"

My smile dropped as I looked back in front of me to find Ruby, Weiss, and Blake standing there loading their weapons with stun rounds. I stared blankly at them, lips pressed into a thin line, "Well...crap."

Ruby grinned manically, "FIRE!" I quickly back-flipped over an unsuspecting Yang and used her as a shield.

As soon as I felt the stun rounds hit Yang, I dropped her limp form to the ground, spun around and ran for the hills yelling, "You'll never catch me alive!"

Ruby pointed at me, "AFTER HIM!" Blake helped Yang up and they all sprinted after me, laughing their heads off."

 **(POV Taiyang)**

I stood with John and Sianna on the front porch smiling as we watched the kids disappear from sight. Sianna wiped her hands on a washcloth to dry them after cooking, "He's doing better."

John nodded, "Yeah, it's good to see after what happened to him."

I leaned against a support, "Do either of you know what they actually did to him?"

Sianna shook her head, "No, and that scares me. He's eighteen now, legally an adult, and he's locked both John and I out from viewing his medical file."

My father sighed, "No matter how bad it was, he seems to be recovering without any problems yet, which is a blessing from Oum."

I sighed, causing Davian's parents to look over at my sad face, "I wouldn't say 'without any problems'."

John looked concerned, "What do you mean?"

I looked at the ground, "He asked me not to say anything, but you two deserve to know. I came out this morning when everyone else was still waking up to find him sitting on the front steps with an empty pot of coffee. When I asked him how long he'd been awake for, he said he hadn't gotten 'anywhere near a full eight hours of sleep for four years'." John and Sianna's eyes widened, "I don't know what happened, but it was bad enough for him to not sleep more than a couple hours every night."

We all stood there silently as John and Sianna processed that information. John took a step forward to go after his son when I stopped him. He turned around confused, "Why are you stopping me? We have to talk to him."

I shook my head, "Let him be John, he's doing fine with that small amount he gets each night."

John pushed my hand off his shoulder, "That's not what I'm worried about!"

I huffed, "I know that, but trying to force anything out will only make him clam up more-so than he already is." I nodded my head to the now visible kids as they walked back to the house laughing, "Look at them, he's doing fine. He'll talk about it when he's ready and not a second before." I then chuckled a bit, "And if I know my daughter, then I'd be willing to bet that she's already gotten him to talk to her a bit." I put my hands on my friend's shoulders and looked him in the eyes, "Davian is a strong man. He was when he disappeared protecting Yang, and yes he came back scarred, but even stronger. He'll pull through, I'm sure of that."

John looked back at the kids as they laughed and joked. He sighed, "Alright, we won't say anything. I just hope he will."

I pat his shoulder, "It'll be okay, look at them laughing. That's genuine laughter, not the fake stuff people sometimes push out." The three of us look one last time before disappearing back into the house to finish breakfast.

 **(POV Davian)**

We all sat around the dining room table eating waffles as we talked about the morning. Ruby stood on her chair pointing at me with her fork, "We totally got you!"

I smiled, "Yeah, only after I tied Blake to a tree with Gambol Shroud, and trapped Weiss in her own ice. Add that to the fact that I didn't even have my own weapon." I took a sip of orange juice, "Plus, I would call that a draw after I let Yang tackle me from behind."

Yang looked offended, "You totally didn't 'let me' tackle you! You just didn't hear me come up behind you."

I grinned and raised an eyebrow at her, "Yang...you're as silent as an Ursa."

Yang put a hand on her hip, "Remind me if I'm wrong, but didn't an Ursa sneak up on you in Forever Fall?"

I stared at her blankly for a few seconds, "...Touché." Yang grinned and raised her waffle on her fork in triumph before beginning to gobble it down. "Though didn't you tell me that TWO Ursa's surprised you during initiation and cut some of your hair?" Yang choked on a piece of her waffle while she tried to defend herself. I smiled, "Aaaaand my honor is restored."

We spent the remainder of breakfast talking about what we were going to do during the day. Ruby yelled through a mouth full of chocolate chip waffles, "Wets go foo vee whice wink!"

Weiss huffed in annoyance, "Ruby, we've told you to swallow first...though thanks for not spraying me with food this time."

Ruby saluted before swallowing, "Right, sorry. As I said, let's go to the ice rink at the mall!"

The adults conversed a bit before Sianna turned back smiling, "Sure, why not, we need to do a little Christmas shopping. Plus, it'll be fun to watch you three try to ice-skate again."

Ruby and Yang scowled at my mom while Blake reddened. Yang saw her and quickly turned her scowl into a grin, "Awwww kitty not good on ice?"

Blake just glared at her partner hatefully while we laughed. Tai stood up, "Let's get going then, no time like the present." We all cleared our dishes and piled into the car before driving off for Vale.

 **(Important Note Below)**

 **Hey guys, chapter eight is now finished. I will say it's not my best chapter, but I'm still getting used to this writing thing, especially when it's completely outside the cannon. Any suggestions on how to write better are welcome.**

 **IMPORTANT - Now, for you people that wanted some sort of competition over Davian between Blake and Yang, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to say it's not going to happen. As you may of read in earlier chapter, Blake was VERY close to the Kadar family when they were in the Fang. So that means Blake will see Davian as more of a brother then a love interest. Noooooww, I don't mean that there won't be some sort of love triangle later on. After all, Davian might need teammates at some point, and that's what I want you guys to decide on.** **Should Davian get his own team, or stay part of RWBY (This will give him a special role during the tournament)?" I have a poll open in my profile and I'll keep it open up to where I feel Davian should or shouldn't get a teammate.** **So I guess that's all, I'll keep doing the best I can for you guys. Feel free to leave any comments (good or bad and anything I could be doing better) along with chapter/scene ideas in the review section.**

 **Archangel out...**


	10. Chapter 9 - Back To The Way Things Were

**I'm back with Chapter Nine in-hand everyone. Before we get going I'd like to remind everyone about the** **Poll** **on my profile about whether Davian should get a team or stay with RWBY. I've gotten my first vote asking for Davian to stay. So if you want otherwise, then cast your vote through the pole (If you're a guest and can't vote in the poll, then leave your vote in the comments, I read them all). With that said, let's get to it.**

This is a bittersweet hell, that's all I have to say about my current situation. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang and I have been at the ice-rink for about twenty minutes, and while I am doing better than I did five or six years ago, I'm still on my ass more often than not. Blake flat our refused to let go of the railing and Ruby wasn't faring much better, relying on Weiss to teach her how to stay on her feet.

After several tumbles, Yang stood next to me on the sidelines taking a break. She had one hand on the railing and the other rubbing her rear, "My ass hurts worse than that gay guys first."

My mother shacked Yang's hand, "Watch your language young lady, there is no need to say such things!"

Yang quickly changed her tune, "I mean we're having so much fun, watch we're going now."

With a grin she grabbed Blake's hand, "Yang, don't you dare!" With the biggest grin ever, Yang pushed her towards Weiss and Ruby, "YANG! WHAT DID I JUST SAY!"

Yang was cackling evilly until I gave her a firm shove that sent her careening into the heap of limbs that was team RWBY. Yang sat up with a groan, "Owwww, karma's a bitch." A snowball hit her face that sent her back onto her back with my mom yelling "language" in the background.

I half skated half awkwardly slid over to them, pulling each one to their feet. Weiss brushed snow off her jacked grumbling to herself, "Ruby was finally getting the hang of it."

Yang grinned at Weiss, "Don't worry abo-OOOMMFFF!"

Yang was suddenly on her stomach and turned to glare at a certain feline teammate who was smiling mischievously at her, "Oops." She then looked at Yang's left skate and carefully walked back over the side, laughing quietly to herself.

Yang looked at her skate to find the blade had popped off, she groaned, "Cooooomme onnnn!"

She turned and looked hopefully at Ruby and Weiss, but they immediately skated away laughing, completely ignoring Yang's indignant cries. She then turned hopefully to me and pouted. I rolled my eyes and grabbed her hand to pull her to her feet. What I wasn't expecting was for Yang to jump onto my back, launching us towards the railing. "WOO HOO!" I groaned as the railing quickly approached. From Ruby's point of view, all she saw was Yang riding on my back only for us to go head over heels right over the side railing.

I closed my eyes as soon as the railing sent Yang and I careening over it into a snow drift. Feeling Yang land on top of me with and "OOF", I opened my eyes only for them to widen, and for once, I felt a blush seep into my face due to our…compromising position. Face's an inch apart, her arms on either side of my head, and our chests pressed together and well…it looked worse than it actually was.

It was in this position that everyone found us when they ran or skated over to check on us. Yang and I, still surprised over the current situation, didn't hear anyone approach and hadn't moved by the time they got there. Once Tai saw us, he laughed, "Alright you two, let's keep it clean." Everyone else was holding their sides, they were laughing so hard.

Yang and I quickly rolled in opposite directions, as red as Ruby's cloak due to embarrassment. I just kept my gaze locked on the ground while Yang rubbed the back of her head and stuttered out, "H-hey ev-everyone, what's u-up?"

Her father grinned, "I don't know, you'll have to ask Davian."

My mother smacked him in the chest, pretending to be upset by his statement but was grinning herself, "Leave them be Tai," she then turned to me, "but I expected better from you Davian."

I just rubbed my forehead before teleporting behind some trees and began walking towards the food-court. Yang and the others caught up with me as I arrived and we all sat down to eat. Yang and I didn't make eye-contact throughout the meal up until we finished and the others began bringing it back up. Tai grinned, "You two looked comfortable," his eyes narrowed in mock suspicion, "a little too comfortable for my liking. What have you two been doing in those dorms of yours?

Blake turned to look at Yang, smiling at her chance to get back the queen of blackmail, "Yea Yang, you've spent a good amount of time alone with Davian in his room. What have you to been to in there?"

Tai and my parents raised eyebrows at that and turned back to Yang and I. Yang waved her hands in front of her, "Nothing like what you're thinking! It was only when we found out about his ea-"

I quickly put a hand over her mouth and teleported us both to the exit before she said anything I didn't want my parents to know about yet. Once we walked out and sat down on a bench, Yang realized what she almost said in front of my parents. She looked at her hands, "Sorry, I didn't mean to say anything."

I lean back, "It's alright, we don't know if they heard you or not."

Yang sighed, "I'm afraid to say it but I'm pretty sure they heard me begin to say ears." She glanced at me before looking back down blushing a bit. I raised an eyebrow at her actions, not used to this flustered side of Yang. Usually she's the one making people feel embarrassed. I glance up at the stores around us before pulling Yang to her feet causing her to yelp in surprise, "What are you doing?"

I shrug, "I figured we needed to think about something else, so I thought a bit of shopping will do you some good."

She looked at me suspiciously, "And what do you get out of this, hm?"

I shrugged, "My daily workout by carrying your bags."

Yang grinned before pulling me into a clothing store squealing like a little girl, "OH THANK-YOU SO MUCH!" She stopped to think for a second before leaning over to give me and small kiss on the cheek before rushing into the back of the woman's part of the store very flushed. I stood there for a minute, trying to process the bomb Yang just dropped in my lap before running off. A small, warm smile grew on my face as I took a seat and got comfortable, knowing how long Yang would take to choose an outfit.

I sat there for twenty minutes before I felt a pile of clothes land on my lap, startling me out of my thoughts. I looked up to find Yang standing before me holding a small pile herself, "Come sit by the dressing rooms so I can get your opinion."

I smirked at the pile of clothes she had picked, "Two things, are you planning to get all of this?" Yang shook her head in the negative. I raised an eyebrow in skepticism, "Uh-huh, and are you going to hear my opinion then dismiss it immediately like all the other times you asked for my opinion on fashion?"

Yang looked offended, "Name one time I'v-"

"Do you want the list chronologically or alphabetically" I interrupted?"

Yang huffed as she turned towards the dressing rooms. Some random guy who was walking by with his girlfriend had seen the entire thing and turned to me before I left, "I don't even know you and you already have my respect." He then looked at his girl and smiled fondly, "I have yet to get anywhere near as successful as you with Elizabeth here." His girlfriend smacked his chest in mock anger before walking off.

I look in the direction Yang had walked off in before turning back to him, "It's the price we pay."

The guy chuckled before walking after his girlfriend, "That it its man, that it is."

I took a seat outside Yang's dressing room, waiting for her to get dressed. I looked up as I saw the door crack open as she poked her head out, "Ready?"

I shrugged, "Do I have a choice?"

She ignored me as she stepped out in a black ribbed turtleneck sweater that hugged her nicely, but not to much and a pair of gray jeans. Her hair was tied into a ponytail and pulled over her shoulder. She stood there for a second before crossing her arms, "What do you think?"

I tilt my head back and forth, "I give it a solid eight out of ten, maybe find a little yellow or gold to mix in, but put it in the good pile I'm sure you already have going in there."

She smiled widely before disappearing back into the stall. We continued this process for the next forty minutes. In the end, Yang picked the black turtleneck and jeans along with two other outfits she picked out. As we were walking out of the store, Yang had her arms crossed, annoyed at me for shoving my card into the cashier's hand before she could. "Could of let me pay for half at least" she muttered out."

"Nope" I said said, popping the p, "I haven't been able to do this for you in a few years, so I think I'm a little over-do." Yang grumbled to herself as we walked around for the next two hours, eventually being found by the others.

Ruby rushed up to us and pointed a finger in our faces, "Where did you two go? You left the rest of your team with the boring old people while they talked about boring stuff and went to old people stores!"

Tai wrapped his arms around Ruby and lifted her into the air, "Oh boring old people huh?" He sighed, "Well I guess I can take those burn rounds I got you for Crescent Rose back since they were from some boring old guy."

A look of horror fell upon Ruby's face as she wiggled around and hugged her father, "I MEAN YOUNG NICE ADULTS WHO I LOVE AND CHERISH!"

Tai laughed, "That's what I thought," he then set Ruby down and turned to Yang and I, "but where did you two go anyways?"

I lifted Yang's bags, "I took Yang to get something, I haven't done it in a while."

Tai looked at his daughter, "And who payed for your shopping spree sweety?"

Yang looked annoyed and grumbled again, "This rude lump of a guy wouldn't even let me pay for half."

I sigh and shrug, beginning to turn around "I guess this rude lump can take it all back if she so wishes."

Eyes going wide, Yang quickly ran in front of me with fluttery eyelashes, "I mean a handsome man who I care deeply about."

I grin as Tai lifted both his daughters in a tight embrace, "You two are so alike it's adorable."

As Tai smothered his daughters with affection, my parents pulled me aside looking very anxious. My father looked me straight in the eye, "Davian, what was Yang saying about your ears?"

I looked at him blankly, eventually feeling my mother's hand on my back, "Please Davian."

I stare at them for a few more seconds before shaking my head, "Not here, not now. I…don't want to talk about it." My parents looked upset so I quickly hugged them, "I'm healing, I really am. Today has been one of the best since I got back. I'm smiling and laughing normally again and I'm doing well in classes. You have nothing to worry about."

My parents looked at me, unsure due to what Tai had told them about my sleeping schedule. They eventually accepted my answer and we rejoined Yang and the others right as she broke free of Tai's grasp and got him in a headlock. "You think you're so strong old man, but you're no match for meEEEE!"

Tai quickly dropped Ruby and lifted Yang upside down in the air with one arm, "Don't forget that this old man trained to be a Hunter and still keeps himself in shape young lady."

Yang pouted and crossed her arms, very annoyed that her father could still beat her in a strength competition. She looked away huffing as Tai stared at her with a smirk, expecting a response, "You win…this time."

Tai dropped her and held his arms high in triumph, "I STILL GOT IT" he yelled out, drawing several amused looks from many a passersby.

He grabbed Yang and Ruby and walked off towards the car while we followed on their heels smiling at Yang and Ruby's indignant yells of outrage.

Ruby pushed on Tai's arm trying to squeeze out, "DAD LET ME GO!"

Yang dragged her feet while trying to pry her father's arm off her waist, "Dad I'm seventeen years old, set me down!" I walked up behind Tai and grabbed Yang and Ruby's feet and tucked them underneath my arms to restrict their kicking. Yang twisted her head and around and glared at me, "Davian! Let go of me right now or so help me I'll pound you into the dust once we get back home!"

I shake my head, "No can do, you see the second I let you go, then you won't wait until we get back. You'll kill me right here and now before I can even get a head start."

By the time we reached the car, Yang had been gritting her teeth and glaring at me with lightish red eyes the entire way. I dropped her legs as Tai threw her into the car behind Ruby and we all got into the car and headed home. The entire way, I could feel Yang and Ruby burned a hole in the back of my head. The second the car pulled up to the house, I teleported outside and booked it into the woods. As soon as I disappeared into the trees I heard the sound of exploding wood and felt splinters go whizzing past me at extreme velocities.

As soon as I heard the sound of another shotgun shell being loaded, I dove to the right just in time because a tree was burned to a crisp right in front of me. "HOLD STILL DAVIN! I PLAN TO FULFILL MY PROMISE!"

I jumped up into a tree and held my breath as Yang came running by, melting the snow with her footsteps. I continued to hold my breath, hoping beyond hope that she couldn't hear my beating heart. As soon as I felt secure, I released the breath only to feel the tree shake. I looked down just in time to see Yang grab the tree and uproot it, causing me to fall fifteen feet and face plant into the snow. I flopped onto my back groaning and opened my eyes to find Yang standing above me with her fist cocked back, ready to blow my head off.

I quickly tilted my head to the right as her fist came down and formed a crater beneath us. I grabbed it with both my hands and wrapped my legs around her neck to keep her as far away as I could. I grinned as I struggled to keep her from beating the shit out of me, "What are you so mad about?"

I saw a glint in her eye that told me she was mostly joking...mostly, "You helped my father carry me out of a public mall with…everyone…watching. So… now…you…pay!"

She planted her feet and twisted to unlock my legs as pulled me up into the air, giving me a good view of the forest behind her. My eyes widened at what I saw coming at Yang and I as she raised her left fist to knock my lights out, "Yang, there's a Beowulf coming at us!"

She raised an eyebrow at me, not believing what she thought was an excuse, "Yeah right."

I quickly wrapped my legs around her arm and pulled her underneath me as the Beowulf that had be sprinting towards an oblivious Yang swung. The first swing missed, but I grunted in pain as the second tore through my back from my left shoulder to right hip. I ignored the pain and teleported behind the Beowulf, grabbed it by the neck, and twisted sharply causing the Grimm to crumpled to the ground like a marionette who had its strings cut.

Yang pushed herself to her feet as several howls cut the night air. We immediately got back to back as a pack of five Beowolves broke the tree line. Yang and I waited for them to get closer before springing forward. Yang took the three that charged her and I led the two that wanted me into the tree line.

 **(POV Yang)**

As I punched a Beowulf to the ground, cracking its face-plate, I heard a piercing howl reverberate throughout the forest, causing the final two Beowolves two whimper and shuffle around, sniffing the air. After the howl died down, the forest was dead quiet. The Beowolves head snapped to the edge of the clearing to see two pale eyes staring back at them before roaring, causing the Grimm to yelp and run in fear. I spun back around towards the eyes to find them missing.

I spun in circles, trying to find a clue to the whereabouts of the eyes I saw or the Grimm, yelping as I felt someone tap my shoulder, "What are you looking for?"

I spun around swinging my fist and caught Davian right in the gut. He went flying back five feet and landed on his back groaning. I put my hands over my mouth, "Davian! Are you ok?" I received a shaky thumbs up. I sighed in relief as I pulled him to his feet, "Are you sure yo-IS THAT BLOOD!?"

He glanced behind him to find the snow dyed crimson with blood. He shrugged, "Don't worry about it, my aura already healed it."

I put my hands on my hips, "Show me!" He sighed and turned around to show me his shirt with three cuts running diagonally across his back. I pushed the cloth aside and looked closely to find the cuts already healed, leaving scars in their wake. I felt guilty as I realized when he got them, "It's from when you pulled me underneath you, wasn't it?"

He turned around to look at me, "It's fine, it was shallow, didn't hurt to bad."

I felt my eyes go red as I smacked his chest, "I don't care if it 'didn't hurt to bad'. WHY CAN'T YOU LET ME TAKE A HIT EVERY ONCE IN AWHILE? YOU KNOW I CAN!"

He smiled softly as he sat down in the snow and pulled me down next to him. "One more won't hurt me Yang. Besides, I can't to that," he pointed to the scar on his face, "can't let something like this mar your skin." I felt my face blush, forcing me to stare straight into the forest. He shook his head chuckling, "Odd to be on the other side of things, isn't it?" Feeling my blush deepen, I stood up and began walking back towards the house, still very red in the face muttering 'shut up' to him.

We walked back in silence, the woods quiet after whatever that…thing was that scared off those Beowolves. I stopped walking and turned towards Davian, "Did you see those weird eyes that were in the trees back there?"

He tilted his head, "What eyes?"

I pointed back towards the clearing, "Those weird pale eyes that roared at the Beowolves, making them run off!"

He looked concerned, "You okay? I didn't hear a roar or see any eyes."

I thought hard, "I'm sure I heard and saw that, I'm sure of it."

He put a hand on my forehead, "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

I just stood there, trying to figure out what I saw, "I-I'm…not sure anymore?"

We just stood there for another minute before he led me back to the house as I continued to try to figure out what the hell I saw. And for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what exactly happened, "It wasn't a Grimm, it's eyes were pale, not red, so what was it?"

I looked up when Davian nudged me and saw the house as we broke the tree line, "Maybe it was just the adrenaline that made you see the eyes, though it wouldn't surprise me if some Grimm did roar and I just didn't hear it. Grimm have been known to not get along sometimes, I mean we saw what that weird Beowulf did to that Ursa Major back in Forever Fall. Maybe they knew they couldn't win that fight and ran off to find the rest of their pack."

I sigh, "Maybe, it's just odd, I could of sworn I saw a pair of pale eyes."

He patted my back, "We see weird things sometimes, especially right off an adrenaline high."

I shrug, "I guess that could be all, though I am going to ask dad about it, maybe he knows something."

He stops me before opening the door, "Alright, just leave the part about me getting cut out of your story. I'm going to go change before my parents see my shirt."

I nod my head as we open the door and he disappears in a puff of mist. I take five steps into the house before I feel Ruby run into my stomach, "How badly did you hurt him?"

I ruffle her hair, "I didn't Rubes, I keep forgetting how sneaky he is."

Ruby stomped her foot, "But he deserves it," she then thought, "can I hit him when he shows himself? Where is he anyways?"

I laugh, "Sure, give him a good one and aim for the place I taught you to okay?" I then nod my head towards the stairs, "He'll be down in a second, if you use your semblance, then you can ambush him when he reaches the bottom."

Ruby grins before disappearing around the corner into the living room. A minute later, I hear Davian coming down the stairs followed by his mother, "Mom we're fine, there's not even that many Grimm in the forest, trust-"

That's all I heard before I heard something land on the floor hard. I looked around the corner and laughed at the sight of Ruby standing over Davian with her arms crossed, "Now we're even for earlier."

I walked over and slung Davian over my shoulder and walked into the living room where dad and John were talking. Tai looked up and raised an eyebrow at Davian's current state, "How badly did you hurt him?"

I nodded at Ruby, "I didn't, Ruby got him with her semblance as he walked down the stairs."

I flopped him down on the couch as he wheezed out, "Tai… your daughters have a screwed up sense of justice."

Tai looked between Ruby, Davian and I before his eyes widened as he realized what Ruby had done to Davin, "RUBY! You don't do that to a guy that hasn't done anything to you, never!"

Ruby looked annoyed, "He helped in embarrassing Yang and I!"

Tai shook his head, "I don't care, NEEEVVVERRR hit a guy friend below the belt unless he's being creepy. Who even taught you to do that?"

Davian pointed at me with a shaking hand, "I have an idea."

Tai threw his hands in the air, "Davian just bought you some clothes at the mall and this is how you repay him!"

Davian raised his head from the couch to look at me as I smirked, "He got off easy, I let Ruby hit him when I could've been the one to punch his balls."

Davian stared at me for a few more seconds before flopping his head back onto the couch, "I never thought I'd see the day when I'd thank you for letting Ruby punch me in the crotch, but thanks.

Yang and Ruby giggled before walking over to get a game or something as Blake looked up from her book by the fire, "You ok Davian?"

He waved her off, "Just give me a few minutes." Weiss walked out of the kitchen with a glass of water in one hand and an ice pack in the other. As she walked back to her seat, she sat the pack in front of Davian's face. He smiled at some internal joke before letting it out, "Thanks Snow Angel." Weiss just groaned and walked back to her seat, muttering some profanities about Jaune under her breath. Though by the time an hour had passed we all were eating food, playing games, and talking the rest of the night away, waiting for the next day to bring us closer Christmas.

 **I know, I know, I'm not sure if I'm any good at this fluffy stuff, but I'm doing my best.** **Any criticism to improve my writing is welcome, no matter how harsh** **. So, I'm going to tell you guys and girls now that the next chapter isn't coming out until around Christmas and it's not going very long, but I think I'll be making many of you very happy with what I have planned. I'm swamped with study packets and finals right now, so I'm not going to be able squeeze another chapter out before then. So keep an eye out in the next couple weeks for the next chapter.** **Don't forget about the poll** **and leave a comment about how I'm doing along with any chapter/scene ideas you'd like to see happen and I'll see what I can do for ya. So until then everyone...**

 **Archangel out...**


	11. Chapter 10 - Christmas Day

**We've hit double digits everyone (Discounting the prologue)! We have finally made it to the Christmas chapter of my story and I lied about it being shorter. While I was writing, I just kept going and it ended up being about the length of a normal chapter. I am going to say that this chapter is going to make many of you VERY happy (Hopefully all of you). So I'm not going to keep you any longer, let's get to it…**

I sat on the front porch in the early dawn with a cup of steaming hot-chocolate in my hand as I stared blankly into the still dark woods, keeping an eye out for any movement while I mechanically sipped at my beverage without even tasting it. I hadn't slept for more than an hour last night, the nightmares were more…vivid than usual. Out of my multitude of hellish experiences with the Fang, this one was at the top of my list as the most scarring. It's the one that finally broke me. Making me cold, detached, and merciless. As my thoughts began to darken, remembering what they did to me, the cup slipped out of my hands and fell into the soft snow at my feet. I stared at my shaking hand before I felt something warm cover me. Turning my head, I found Yang sitting next me looking sad or concerned.

I nodded my head in thanks and turned back to find the sky turning gold. We stayed like this for a few minutes before Yang spoke up, "How much sleep did you get?"

"Enough" I say, not wanting her to discover that I couldn't sleep.

She shook her head, "Don't lie to me, you know how well that went for you last time. How much sleep did you get?"

I remained silent for a few seconds before reaching down to pick up my cup, "An hour, at most."

She processed that for a second, "How common is that?"

I shake my head, "Not very, but my regular schedule isn't much better. I normally only get about two or three hours, but they're restless." I lean back onto my arms, "It's been like that since I got back. I get my normal couple hours most nights, but every once in awhile a particularly bad memory comes around not allowing me to sleep at all."

We sat there watching the sun rise for ten minutes before she asked another question, "What happens in the dream that doesn't let you sleep?"

I shook my head, "That's something I won't be able to talk about for a long time Yang, it's the worst memory I have." She nodded her head in understanding before yawning and leaning her head on my shoulder, not used to waking this early. Not wanting to disturb her, I enjoyed the beautiful morning for the next couple hours until I heard the sounds of everyone waking. Looking to my right, I saw Yang sleeping peacefully. I looked up at the rising sun and tried to forget the previous night's torment but was unable to drive it from my mind.

Sighing, I gently lay Yang down on some cushions and made sure she was well covered by the heavy blanket before sending Tai a message telling him to come get her. With that done, I stood up and strapped on my weapons and armor before starting to walk off towards the woods to let out some frustration. Right before I reached then, I heard someone yell at me to slow down, but I just ignored them and disappears in a cloud of mist, wanting to be alone for the time being.

 **-][-**

 **(POV Yang)**

Drifting back into consciousness, the first thing I realized is that I wasn't leaning against Davian. Instead I was back inside laying on my bed. Before I could sit up, I heard voices coming from the hallway outside my room, "Why would Davian just run like that, it's not like him?"

I immediately sat up, a bit too quick and fell to the floor with a yelp of surprise. I scrambled to my feet and swung the door open to find dad and John standing there. I quickly looked past them into the living room to find Davian not sitting there reading. I turned back to dad and Tai, "What do you mean 'Davian just ran off?!"

Dad shrugged, "I don't know what's wrong with him. All I know is that he sent me a message to come get you, but when I stepped outside, I saw him walking into the forest in his combat gear."

My eyes widened, "Why didn't you stop him, there can be some dangerous Grimm out there?!"

Dad put his hands up in defense, "I tried, but as soon as I started running after him and yelled for him to slow down, he used his semblance to disappear into the trees." He then put his hands on my shoulders, "John and I were about to get our gear and go out to find him."

I shook my head, "If he didn't even respond to you, then he wants to be alone right now."

John looked upset and surprised, "Don't you want to find him."

"Of course I do," I snapped at him, eyes red, "but if he doesn't want to be found then we won't find him. He'd of left no tracks for us to follow and he's so quiet that even Blake can't hear him, and that's scary considering how good her hearing is."

Dad sighed, "What made him so upset that he thought going for a walk alone in a forest inhabited by Grimm was a good option?" I thought back to this morning and the reason he was so upset became clear. Dad saw the light-bulb go off, "What is it, do you know?"

I looked down at the ground, "He said he had a really bad dream last night."

Dad looked sad, "That could be it, but sadly I don't think that's uncommon for him right now."

I shook my head, "He told me they weren't the normal nightmares he usually gets. It was bad enough that he didn't notice me until I draped a blanket over his shoulders. Since he got back he's always acting like he's preparing for the worst to happen, so the fact that I was able to get that close to him with him noticing, he must of been in deep thought." I felt my eyes begin to mist, "I don't know what scared him so much, but it hurt him the worst out of everything they did do him."

Tears started to fall down my face, causing my father to wrap me in a hug, "It's ok Yang, it's okay, you're doing whatever you can to help him, I can tell. Look on the bright side, there aren't any S class Grimm in this forest. He's a strong boy, a couple of Grimm won't be able to scratch him."

I nodded my head and wiped my eyes, feeling better. I turned back to John as he bowed his head, "I apologize for anything I said Yang. I'm just worried about him. He's not telling Sianna or I anything, and that scares us."

Dad put a hand on our backs and led us downstairs to get breakfast, "He knows that we're celebrating Christmas once Ms. Schnee returns from Atlas tonight. So he should be back by then."

I nodded my head as we sat down at the dining room table to eat breakfast while Ruby kept going on and on about how excited she was for Weiss to get back and for Christmas. I looked up as Ruby directed a question about Davian at me, "I wonder what he's doing right now?"

I swallowed my bite before replying, "He's probably cleared the area of Grimm before bunkering down to think, he's done it before back at Beacon in the Emerald Forest."

Sianna stood up to clear some dishes while speaking over her shoulder, "How often does he do something like this?"

Blake shrugged, "He'll vanish for the entire day about every month or two, and since it's not very often it took us a while to figure it out. Though once we did we left him be. If he discovered us following him into the forest he would probably just find another spot to go think."

Everyone stayed silent, trying to figure out what the Fang had done to Davian. Deciding to change the subject, Ruby spoke up, "What time will Weiss get here?"

Dad looked at his watch, "Well it's ten-thirty-four right now and she'll land at about four forty-five. So she'll be here at about six o'clock" Ruby smiled and was about to ask something else before dad beat her to it, "Which means we'll open gifts at about seven thirty or eight o'clock."

Ruby blushed a bit, embarrassed that she was so easily read when it came to stuff like this. We talked for another forty minutes before we all cleared the table and went about our day. After taking a shower and getting dressed I sat down on the front porch by a comforting fire and waited for Davian to return home.

-][-

The Beowulf silently crept the the snow, trying to avoid whatever had been hunting down it's fellow pack mates. The Grimm wasn't able to think anymore complex than its basic instincts of hunt and kill. But right now they were screaming at it to turn tail and run as a far away from whatever was hunting him down. Suddenly, the Beowulf lept forward and ran as something tried to grab it. Looking over its shoulder, it didn't see anything causing him to slow down. It lifted its snout into the tried to catch the scent of its predator. It couldn't find anything for several seconds before it was suddenly right on top of it. Before it could escape, something pulled the Grimm into the shadows with several yelps before everything went silent with the sound of slicing flesh. The forest was quiet once again.

-][-

I sat dozing by the fire when I felt the bench shift under added weight. I looked up through blurry eyes, only just able to make out the armored form of Davian. I quickly sat up rubbing my eyes and furiously whispered to him, "Davian, why did you run off like that?"

He sighed, sounding very tired, "Just needed to think Yang, that's all."

I punched his shoulder, "Just think! Why couldn't you of done that here?"

He groaned as he rubbed his shoulder, "I just needed to be alone, is it wrong to want that?"

My eyes went red, "WHEN YOU RUN OF INTO A GRIMM INFESTED FOREST FOR SEVERAL HOURS IT IS!"

He leaned his head against the back of the bench, "The Grimm in this forest can't hurt me Yang, you know how careful I am."

I threw my hand in the direction we had ran off several days ago, "What about that Grimm that cut you not so long ago? Hm!"

He shrugged, "My aura healed that almost instantly, plus you were there at the time."

I stared open mouthed at him, "Are you saying that I'm nothing more than something that needs to be babysat in a fight?"

He shook his head, "That's not what I me-"

"What did you mean then?" I half yelled at him.

Before he could answer, a white limousine pulled up to the house. A man in a suit stepped out and opened the backdoor to allow Weiss out, "Thank-you Fred, please go enjoy Christmas with your family."

He smiled and gave Weiss a small bow, "Thank-you Ms. Schnee, and please enjoy yours as well." With that he stepped back into the limo and drove off.

I stood up and walked over to welcome Weiss, still very upset at Davian. "Welcome back Weiss, how was the flight?"

Weiss turned to me and looked confused, "Helloooo, I think. It was fine, but what's wrong?"

I smiled, "What do you mean?"

She put a hand on her hip and motioned to me with the other, "You haven't made one joke yet, asked how my flight was, and didn't call me Ice Queen. So something is up, what is it?"

I glanced behind me to find Davian gone. I sighed, "Nothing, just...don't worry about it."

-][-

By the time six o'clock had rolled around I had calmed down enough to feel horrible about what I said. Everyone could tell that something was wrong between Davian and I. Standing up, I head outside to try to find him before we did Christmas because I'll be damned before I ruin Blake's, Davian's, and Weiss' first actual Christmas in several years over a small argument. I go around the wraparound porch but couldn't find him. I grumbled as I looked out into the forest only to catch sight of a column of smoke rising above the trees, originating from the clearing where Davian and I used to train.

I jogged down the narrow trail that had been overgrown due to disuse. It was now that I realized this would be my first time back here since Davian was taken all those years ago. This thought alone caused me to stop, not wanting to go back there again. I closed my eyes for a few seconds before willing my feet to push forward. I arrived at the edge of the clearing to find Davian laying on a blanket staring at the darkening sky. He looked up as I stepped out of the trees and we stared at each-other for a few seconds before he beckoned me forward.

I sat down as I reached him and stared into the flames of the roaring fire he'd built in his time out here. We stayed like this for a few minutes before I spoke, "I'm sorry."

He shook his head, "I'm sorry to, we both said things we didn't mean. When I said 'you were there', I meant I kept accidentally looking at-." He started to look kinda nervous for some reason, "I meant that you were distracting me, n-not in a bad way- AUGH dust dammit."

I stared at him wide-eyed, "Did…did you just call me pretty?" He glued his gaze to the ground and nodded his head. "A-As in pretty, or as in I was wondering if you wanted-"

He bit the bullet, "Do you want to go out som-"

"YES!" I tackled him to the ground and planted a small kiss on his lips. I pulled away a bit and we stared at each-others eyes for several second before he pulled into a deep kiss that made me feel like a fire had been set ablaze in my chest. 'BEST…CHRISTMAS…EVER' I squealed in my head.

-][-

 **(POV Ruby)**

Mr. and Mrs. Kadar, Dad, Blake, Weiss and I all stood wide-eyed and slack-jawed at the sight of Yang laying on top of Davian, locked in a deep kiss in the middle of the clearing. When we discovered Yang missing we frantically looked around, eventually spotting the smoke coming from the clearing. Thinking something may of been wrong, we called for the adults and we all took off running, expecting to find Yang and Davian locking together in combat. But imagine our surprise the find them "locked" together.

I looked at the others to find Mr. and Mrs. Kadar looking very happy, tears in their eyes. Dad had a huge smile on his face. Weiss just looked surprised while Blake was blushing a bit. Dad huffed out a small laugh, "Well…would you look at that, I owe Qrow a hundred lien."

Sianna sniffed and wiped some tears from her eyes before pulling us away from the clearing, "Let's leave them be before the two lovebirds see us." We all started walking back to the house to get everything ready for tonight. Before we got out of sight, I looked behind me to find Davian and Yang just looking at each-other. I turned back around and walked away smiling, overjoyed that my big sister had found someone that loved her just as much as she loves him.

-][-

 **(POV Davian)**

Yang and lay on the blanket I had brought out while being kept warm by the fire and the second blanket I had originally been using as a pillow. I stared at the clear night sky that was alight with millions upon millions of start. The fire crackled and snapped next to us and caused a soft glow to envelope the surrounding area. I enjoyed the hour we lay there, finally in complete peace since I got back. Nothing else existed right then. No White Fang, no school, nobody to worry about my health. Just Yang and I. Tilting my head back a bit, I spotted the position of the moon to finding it was somewhere between seven and eight o'clock.

I nudged Yang who was resting her head on my chest, "We need to be getting back, Ruby would never forgive us if they had to postpone Christmas due to us being late."

Yang looked up at me and huffed, "But I'm comfortable," she then pouted adorably, "will you at least carry me?" I smiled softly and kissed her on the nose before picking her up. As I walked back to the house, Yang snuggled into my arms and rested her head in the crook of my neck.

As we reached the back door (Which had the curtains drawn for some reason) I set Yang down. As I was about to step inside, Yang pulled me back hugged me before pulling away, "Thank you for coming back." She blushed as she started to shuffle her feet and looked away, "I...I lo...I love you." She pulled me into a deep kiss that lasted until our lungs screamed for air.

*FLASH* Yang and I pulled away to find that the curtain had been pulled away, allowing mom to take a picture of us. Ruby was squealing as she bounced up and down while Weiss and Blake just smiled, happy for us. Yang went beat red and stared at her shoes while I just stared incredulously. Tai slid the door open, "Do you two need some more time alone or finally let go of Ruby?"

Yang just glanced at me before Ruby pulled both of us inside, excited to get Christmas going, 'COMEONCOMEONWE'VEBEENWAITINGFORYOU!" Ruby plopped Yang and I down on the couch as everyone took their seats around the room. Using her semblance, Ruby dashed about, distributing the presents to their owners. Before we could even figure out what she was doing, Ruby was sitting at her spot by the fireplace looking at us with wide, excited eyes.

Tai shook his head grinning before nodding his head at her, "Start with the once's from the Kadar's and I". Ruby smiled widely before tearing into a super heavy package that was from my parents and Tai. Her eyes went all sparkly as she held up specialized tools used in forging. She turned to my parents and Tia before rushing over to them with her semblance and hugging them tightly, "THANKYOUILOVEIT!"

Tai and my parents said your welcome (Once they got their breath back) as Weiss held up an expensive designers bag as she looked shocked at my parents and Tai, "How did you get this, it hasn't been released to the public yet?"

My mother shrugged, "I'm friends with people that know important people." Blake pulled out a book series she'd been wanting to read but hadn't been able to afford. She turned to the adults and nodded thank-you from them.

Yang pulled out a certificate redeemable for a motorcycle makeover. She grinned widely before leaping up to thank the adults, "Bumblebee is going to be SOOOOO sweet after I use this!"

I opened up a fairly heavy box to find a set of dark clothing. The torso was made of black leather with crisscross brown leather straps crossing the chest. It also had black leather gloves and boots along with a black tri-fold hat that had attached shoulder guards and a face-mask (Just imagine the Yharnam Hunter Garb from Bloodborne). I looked up at my parents smiling as they shrugged, "We know you like your armor, but having a different set wouldn't hurt. Even if it doesn't look as good as your original set."

I nodded my head in thanks, "It looks very durable and will blend in with any urban environment, thank-you."

The parents then opened the gifts they received from us before Ruby and Weiss opened the gift they got for each-other. Ruby pulled out a long-sleeve, light gray shirt with black belted cuffs near the ends of the sleeves. Over top of the gray shirt is a black piece of clothing with two vertical lines of red stitching that resembles a cross between a corset and overalls (Her Slayer outfit). Weiss pulled out a pure white dress with black edging and two columns of four black buttons on the abdomen. Much like on the bolero of her original outfit, there is a print of her snowflake emblem on her back, in pale blue this time, rather than white (Her SnowPea outfit).

Ruby gasped, "Weiss, this looks awesome, thank-you!"

Weiss looked surprised, "I'm impressed Ruby, this is a very nice outfit, thank-you."

Blake and Yang then opened the gift they gave each other. Blake pulled out a white v-neck zip-up shirt that is black along the bottom and has mid-length sleeves. Her belladonna flower emblem is printed in off-white on the left side of the shirt. She wears black pants that have a vertical gray stripe on the outer side of each leg, and she wears a black belt with them (Her Intruder outfit). Yang grinned as she pulled out a collared cream top over a black shirt, and over top of the former is a black article of clothing that consists of a raised collar, a strap across her collarbone, and mid-length sleeves that are gold at the end. Around her neck is a pendant that has a smooth, round, purple gem set in a round piece of metal that has a point coming off the left and right sides and a small oval shape coming from the bottom (Her Hunter outfit).

Blake smiled, "It looks very practically and comfy Yang, thanks."

Yang whistled, "I gonna look good in this!" She then held it up to herself and turned to me, "What do you think Davin?"

I nodded my head, "Enemies beware, the best dressed Hunter team is coming their way." They laughed before Ruby pulled out a package that was about two feet by a foot and a half big and gave it to me. I tore back the paper and opened the box to find something I hadn't thought of, but in hindsight, I realized I was an idiot. I reached in and pulled out a black bow that was in its standby mode that folded it up into a length of about two feet. I held it in my right hand and hit the button on the side, causing it to extend to a length of about four and a half feet (Garrett's bow from Thief).

I smiled as Ruby explained to me, "We all realized you don't have any means of ranged attacks, so we thought it be a good idea to get you something. Weiss, Blake and Yang chipped in while I made you it. We just kinda figured you for the more silent attacks, so we thought a bow would be better than a gun."

I tested the string of the bow, finding it to be very taught, forcing me to pull on it hard. I nodded my head, very satisfied, "I never thought about ranged attacks when I was making my armor and weapons. Now I feel kinda dumb I didn't." I then turned to look at my team, "Thank-you, I'll be sure to put it to good use." I then reached behind me for something before tossing each of them a package. Blake opened hers to find a long dark purple ribbon. She looked at it curiously as I explained, "That's a special type of cloth that won't break unless it's holding more than four-hundred pounds of force." I motioned towards Yang, "Trust me, I had Yang try to break it but she couldn't."

I then looked at Ruby who was looking at odd ingot of metal, "It's dust infused metal. So if you want to upgrade Crescent Rose with it you can."

Ruby's eyes sparkled at the opportunity I had given her to better her baby, "OH MY GOSH THANK YOU!"

I chuckled as I turned to Weiss who was looking critically over a special white dust crystal. "Found that in a cave on during one of my ventures into the Emerald Forest. Let me tell you, that thing was not easy getting out of the wall without damaging it. I have a deep respect for dust miners now, it's not easy."

Weiss looked shocked, "This is a white dust crystal! It doesn't just form anywhere." She turned it over in her hand, "Even my father couldn't just give me one while I was making Myrtenaster, that's how rare they are."

I shrugged, "I don't have a use for it, I don't use dust." Weiss just stared at me, amazed that I just gave her one of the rarest types of dust like it was nothing.

She eventually smiled and thanked me before I turned to Yang who looked shocked at what she saw in her box. Weiss, Blake, and Ruby peeked over Yang's shoulder and gasped at what they found. Yang pulled out a chained necklace of fiery gold. At the center was an orange sapphire with her symbol engraved into the stone that shifted to a deep red, then a bright yellow, and back to its original vibrant orange depending on the light. Yang smiled softly, "It's beautiful…" Yang leaned over and kissed me softly on the cheek, "thank-you." With that, we all talked the rest of the night away, happy to be in the company of family and friends.

-][-

When the night grew old, many of us went to bed bidding goodnight to everyone. After everyone had gone to bed, Yang snuck out of her room to come sit in front of the fire in the living room with me. She was sitting in front of me, leaning into my chest while I had my arms wrapped around her stomach and rested my chin on the top of her head while we stared into the dancing flames. We stayed like this until midnight when Yang yawned and lay down on the pillow she had brought with her. I started to shift away a bit to give her some room, but she grabbed me and pulled me in so she was spooning me. She turned her head and winked at me before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes.

I kissed the crown of her head before closing my own eyes, "I love you to."

 **I have no idea if I'm any good at this romance stuff, so any feedback is welcome to help me improve. Well, this concludes the Christmas Arc and we'll be starting season two sometime in early January. Let me know how I'm doing in the review section along with any chapter/scene ideas (Or PM me) and don't forget about the poll (You can vote in the review section in you're a guest). Just to let you guys and gals know, I'm going going to be gone from the twenty-fourth through the fourth, so I won't be uploading anything during then. I WILL be writing during that time though. So as soon as I get back, I should have something out for you guys within a few days. See you guys next time…**

 **-Archangel Writings**


	12. Chapter 11 - What Goes Around

**We have made it everyone, season two is upon us. *Getting teary eyed and choked up as I stare off into the distance* I never thought I'd make it this far with my first story being as successful as it is. *Slaps face back to normal* With the emotional episode over, let's hit the ground running with one of the most loved episodes in RWBY. With that said, there's only one thing left to say...FOOD FIGHT!**

Christmas break had, sadly, winded down to and end. After arriving at Beacon, we found ourselves sitting in Beacon's cafeteria the day before our second semester of our freshman year would begin. We all were enjoying lunch as we conversed back and forth about our break. Nora talking adamantly about what Ren and her did. Pyrrha told us she had a quiet, but relaxing break. Jaune...what he described was a personal description of hell. Christmas with his parents and seven sisters was chaotic and how he's still alive, I'll never know.

As we were talking, Yang looked over at Blake who was reading some sort off notebook, "What'cha doooin?"

Blake looked up startled and quickly closed the book before any of us could see what was inside of it, "Nothing, just going over notes from last semester."

Yang quickly looked back across the table and caught a airborne grape in her mouth that had been launched by a giggling Nora. She chewed before turning back to Blake, "Laaaammme." She caught another grape and hummed in approval, giving Nora a thumbs up.

Blake was about to respond before Ruby suddenly came out of nowhere and slammed a huge-ass binder onto the table labeled "Best Day Ever Activities" with "Vytal Festive Activities - Property of Weiss Schnee" scribbled out. "Ah-hem, siblings, friends...Weiss." The insultee cried out in indignation, "Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream."

Yang leaned forward, "This oughta be good."

"I dreamed that the five of us would come together, as a team, and have the best day...ever" Ruby exclaimed!"

Weiss looked closely at the bundle of papers that was causing the reinforced lunch table to bend in on itself, "Did you steal my binder?"

Ruby leaned forward and gave double peace signs, "I am not a crook."

Blake raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about?"

Ruby put a hand on her hip and made a gun with the other, "I'm talking about starting this semester off with a bang!"

Yang grinned widely, "I like to kick my semesters off with a _Yang_!" Her grin widened even further as she looked between us all, "Eh, guys, amiright?" An apple bonked Yang in the head as Nora went "Booooo".

I shook my head with a small smile on my face, "As entertaining as it is to watch you cause pain to our fellow classmates, and while I kinda enjot your jokes most of the time, you gotta stop it with the puns Yang you're killing everyone else."

Yang pouted, "But no puns for seven days makes one _weak_."

I just stared as the others groaned and her pout broke into her trademark grin. "Out of all your personality traits, your puns have got to be the most painful for people close to you."

Yang just smiled, "Eh, it's part of my charm." She then wrapped her arms around my neck, "It seemed to catch your attention."

I turned my focus to the roof thinking, "You're right, I should've thought it through before-hand, I have no idea about what I've gotten myself into."

Yang pretended to be offended, "Well, if that's how you feel theeeenn…" she put a finger to her lips while she thought, "no more kisses from me."

I smiled, "That seems like it would hurt you more than it would me."

Yang thought about that for second before she pouted and turned away from me with crossed arms while Blake picked up where we had left the last conversation off, "Well, I don't know, maybe I'll just sit out on what you have planned Ruby." She then quickly corrected herself, "Not that I mean that what you have planned will be boring, I just don't know."

Weiss wasn't having it, "Sit out or not, I believe whatever we do, we should do it as a team." She stood up like she was about to give an important speech, "I for one think tha-" *SPLAT*

A pie hit Weiss in the face causing us all to turn wide-eyed at Nora as she quickly pointed at Ren. Ruby threw her head back and yelled out, "FOOOOOOD FIIIIIIGHT!" After that...all hell broke loose. Yang tossed Jaune over her shoulder before, surprisingly, Pyrrha tackled Yang with what appeared to be slight anger. Weiss launched the entirety of the food supply on our table at JNPR while Blake chucked whatever came to hand with a precise accuracy.

I, of course, was watching everything unfold next to the safety of the doorway. At the sound of it opening, I turned around find Sun and some other guy with blue hair standing there with very different expressions. Sun looked very excited while his friend looked horrified, and rightfully so. When I turned back, I saw Yang go orbital when Nora hit her with a watermelon rendition of Magnhild.

I ran under the hole and looked up only to see a golden speck disappear with form sight as Yang flew higher and higher, "Okay, this is getting a little out o-"

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" *CRASH*

I spun around again to find Blake KO'd and Ruby hold a severely dazed Weiss while a huge stone pillar came crumbling down. At the sight of my entire team sans Ruby down for the count, I turned to the source of the damage, "That's it." I teleported over to Ruby as she stood up and looked defiantly at JNPR, "I'll set them up, you knock 'em down." With that I teleported in front of JNPR several times, effectively blocking their view of Ruby with mist. As soon as I felt the swirling wind and heard the clattering dinnerware, I teleported in front of JNPR one last time and gave them a mocking salute before disappearing, revealing the whirlwind of food heading straight for them. Set and match.

As JNPR peeled themselves off the wall they had been plastered to, I regrouped with my team. Blake looked none the worse for ware. Weiss' only injury was a small bump on her head. Aaaaaannnd, "Where's Yan-" *CRASH*!

Yang sat up and shook her head, "Wow, that was a big explosion...did anyone get a picture?" Getting head shakes in the negative, she huffed before looking down at what had softened her fall to find herself straddling me while birds and music notes circling my head. After a few seconds, my vision cleared enough for me to see everyone laughing and began to sit up. Yang didn't move and just looked back at me grinning, "Did my warrior fight well?"

I shook my head mournfully, "I was merely the distraction milady, thy sister got the final kill."

Yang hummed before leaning forward and tapped her lips with her finger, "Then you'll have to make up for it." I rolled my eyes and gave her a small kiss that lasted a few second before pulling away. She pouted, "I know you can do better than that."

I nodded my head, "I know I can," I then jerked my head towards the door, "but I won't with Ozpin, Ms. Goodwitch, and the other watching."

Everyone's head snapped up at such a fast speed that I was worried their neck might break as they turned to the door, just now realizing that the headmaster and Goodwitch were standing there. Ms. Goodwitch looked like she was about to rain hell down atop of us before Ozpin said something which caused her to stop and look at us, especially me, with something akin to sadness, or remorse. After she repaired the damage to the cafeteria she turned back to us, "Students, please return to your dorms and clean up. You have a busy first day back tomorrow."

We all nodded our heads and quickly left. Once we were down the hall, everyone but Ren and I burst out laughing while we just smiled. Yang wiped tears from her eyes while she tried to stop laughing, "I tho-I thought we wer-we were dead!"

Weiss had stopped laughing and motioned back towards the lunch hall, "We're just lucky that Ozpin is very lax and was able to stop Ms. Goodwitch."

I nodded my head in agreement before catching whiff of something putrid. I glanced over at Yang who had be latched onto my arm the entire time and saw the mixture of food that covered her along with the rest and RWBY and JNPR. I quickly covered my nose as Blake did the same. Yang saw us and raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong with you two?"

I pointed at her, "Food, clothes, sweat, and hair don't mix well."

As soon as I had said hair, Yang grabbed her's and found it tangled with food, stone, and dust. She shrieked and took off sprinting to their dorm to get to the showers faster with her teammates close on her heals. JNPR said their goodbyes and walked inside their dorm, not nearly as concerned as my team was about their hair and clothes. I stepped into my room and set the shower to hot as I set out some exercise shorts and a gray t-shirt to change into, planning to head to the gym after my shower. Once I stepped out, I heard my scroll buzz, alerting me about a received message. Picking it up, I found a message from Yang, telling me they were going to the library after they had cleaned up. I replied saying that I'd catch up with them after I got back from the gym.

-][-

Two and a half hours later, I was showered and walking over to the sound of Yang yelling out in triumph about something. Rounding the corner, I stopped and stared at what was in front of me. First thing I saw was Blake who, I now realized, looked like she hadn't slept in a week. On the other hand, the far more humorous sight was of Ruby in Weiss' arms while they comically cried about something that had made Yang sit there with her arms crossed and looking very proud of something.

Right as I was about to say something, I heard someone speak up behind me, "Sup losers?"

Ruby jumped out of Weiss' arms and waved at the new arrivals, "Hey Sun."

He nodded, "Ruby, Davian, Yang, Blake, Ice Queen."

Weiss threw down her cards in annoyance, "Why does everyone keep calling me that?"

Sun ignored her as he pointed behind him at the blue haired guy I saw in the cafeteria, "I never got to formally introduce you to my good friend Neptune."

The now named Neptune looked between the board-game and a loudly snoring Nora, "Um, aren't libraries for reading?"

Ren threw his hands into the air and yelled out, "Thank-you!"

Nora woke up with a snort, "PANCAKES!"

Sun hit Neptune in on the shoulder, "Shut up, don't be a nerd."

As soon as he heard nerd, Neptune put his hand up to stop Sun, "Apupupup, intellectual, okay, thank-you." He turned back towards us, "I'm Neptune."

Weiss looked at Neptune up and down a bit before tilting her head to the side a bit, "So Neptune, where you from?"

Neptune smiled, "Haven," he walked suavely over next to Weiss, "aaand I don't think I caught your name…Snow Angel."

I raised an eyebrow, thinking Weiss wouldn't react to one of her most hated nicknames well. Ohhhhh am I glad I was wrong. Weiss smiled a little, "Ummm, I'm Weiss."

Yang and I both held in our laughter as Jaune looked over at his team bewildered and whispered, "Are you kidding me?!"

Neptune, (and Weiss) now both were completely oblivious to any of us continued, "Pleasure to meet you."

Sun shook his head at his partner before leaning over the table by Blake, "I never took you for the board-game playing type."

Blake just stared, rather annoyed at Sun, "Right. Well, I think I'm done playing actually." She stood up and pushed past Sun, "I'll see you later."

Sun looked utterly confused as he turned back to us, "Did I say something, what's wrong with Blake?"

I stood up and walked after her, "I don't know." Walking in the direction Blake had went. I looked to my lower right as I passed the railing and found her on the first floor using the computer. I leaned both arms on the railing and tried to figure out what had her so bothered that last couple of days.

As I was doing so, I felt a familiar warmth wrap her arms around my torso and rest her chin on my left shoulder, "What's she doing?"

I shrugged lightly, "I don't know. She's researching something but I can't tell what." I stood straight up and turned fully towards Yang, "You see her much more often than I do, have you noticed anything odd within the last couple days?"

Yang nodded her head, "Yeah, I have. She won't come back to the dorm until she's forced to by the curfew and any free-time we get she's always gone." Yang lightly kicked the carpet in frustration while looking down at her shoes, "I don't know what's wrong with her and it's bothering me."

I looked back over my shoulder at Blake to find her not only in front of the computer, but now surrounded by books as well. I sighed, "Have you tried talking to her?"

Yang motioned at Blake with her hand, "Of course I have, but she keeps brushing me off." Yang slumped, "I don't know what to do."

My frown deepened as Yang got more and more upset. I pulled her into a hug and rested my chin on top of her head, "We can't do anything about it now. Blake's stubborn, we know that. We'll just have to wait for the right time to talk to her." I slipped my scroll out of my pocket and glanced at it before putting it away, "Come on, they'll be closing the library in half an hour to get us back to our dorms for tomorrow." I nudged her back towards the others, "Go have fun with the others and finish your game while I try to get Blake back to your dorm to sleep."

Yang looked behind us at our laughing group of friends and sighed as she pulled away from me, "I'll try," she got on her tiptoes and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, "and thanks."

I smiled softly and nodded as I lightly pushed her back towards the others while I walked down the stairs to deal with a certain feline faunus. By the time I reached her, most everyone had left and she was lost behind the mountain of books that had formed a protective barrier between her and the rest of the world. I shook my head at the barrier as the librarian walked over looking rather annoyed, "Please remind her to return all those books to the cart before leaving. I do not relish the thought of having to hunt them down."

I nodded my head before pulling aside a wall of books and ducked inside to find a space no bigger than two by three feet with the only light source being the computer screen and any light that managed to sneak its way through a crack in the wall. Blake was so completely immersed in whatever she was looking at on the computer, she didn't even hear me come in. I peered around Blake's head to find her fiercely reading an article about a recent White Fang attack.

I sighed, "Blake…you have to leave that life behind."

I must of startled her because her hair stood on end as she quickly spun around. When she saw me she glared, "How can you say that?!" She pointed at the White Fang symbol on the screen, "How can you just sit by and watch them hurt more innocent people? I would've thought you'd be the first person to step up to stop them!"

I shook my head, "I don't want to be the one to step up to them Bla-"

Her face contorted into one of barely contained rage, "How can just watch INNOCENT people die?!"

I grinded my teeth, "I never said I'd let them kill people, but I won't be going out and searching fo-"

She threw her hand in the direction of the screen again, pointing to a number showing the known number of deaths caused by the fang. "LOOK AT THAT! Hundreds, nearly thousands of people have met their end before their time and you're just going to stand there like...like-"

I snapped, "Like what, like I'm afraid?!" I point to several scars that littered my arms and face, "I have EVERY right to be afraid." I paused and took a breath to calm down before pulling her out of the book fort and pointed at JNPR, Ruby, and Weiss as they walked out, "The Fang doesn't know I'm alive, so as far as they're concerned, I've payed the ultimate price." I turned back to her, "If they find out I'm alive again, there's a high chance they won't leave Yang, Ruby, Weiss, any of you alone anymore. They wanted me to suffer as much as I could and they'll stop at nothing to achieve that." By now Blake was staring at the floor in shame. Still angry, I took another calming breath before speaking, "Go get some sleep or so help me I'll drag you back to the room myself."

Blake nodded her head, acting like she had back in the Fang when we were little after she did something bad and got caught. After she left, I leaned against the wall and slid down, utterly exhausted. I leaned my head against the wall as I thought about what I just said, "I over did it."

"Ya think?" I sluggishly glanced to my left to find Yang standing there looking concerned, "What happened?"

I shook my head, "She's stubborn, like I said. Unfortunately that forced me to yell at her when I didn't mean to."

She pursed her lips, "Did it need to be said or do you regret saying it?"

I sat there for several seconds, "I honestly don't know Yang, I don't know."

Yang stood there in silence before offering me hand which I took gratefully. Once I was on my feet, Yang held my face in her hands, "I didn't hear exactly what you said, but it sounded like it needed to be said. I'm sure you didn't mean any harm and you'll be able to apologize to Blake in the morning."

I thought about that and nodded my head as we both walked back to our dorms, ready to hit the hay. Right as we reached RWBY's dorm, we ran into something unusual. Ruby ran by, mumbling something about her board-game, leaving three people in uniforms I didn't recognize standing outside the dorm room. When we got closer, they all turned to find Yang and I standing there. There was a guy with silver hair, a girl with mint green hair, and another girl with obsidian hair and glowing eyes that reminded me of…something, but I'm unsure of what. Unknown to me, the first boy and girl eyes widened and seemed to do a slight double take before schooling their faces into a 'Who are you' look.

Yang, completely oblivious to any of this waved, "Hello, can I help you with something?"

The obsidian haired girl shook her head and motioned the other two to follow her, "No need, the red cloaked girl already gave us directions." As she passed me, her eyes seemed to bore into mine, searching for something. My gaze followed them the entire way down the hall. The girl looked back at me one last time before disappearing around the corner.

Yang put a hand on her hip, "That was…weird." When I didn't reply, she looked over to find me deep in thought, still staring at the spot where the woman disappeared. She nudged my arm, "What's wrong?"

I furrowed my eyebrows, "I just have the weirdest feeling I've seen them before, but for the life of me I can't remember when."

Yang hummed, "That's odd, you usually have a really good memory."

I grunted in agreement before Yang kissed me goodnight and walked into her dorm, leaving me to my thoughts. I stood there for a few more minutes, straining to remember but to no avail. I gave up and walked into my room only to catch the tail-end of a conversation in RWBY's dorm, "Okay, all in favor of being the youngest huntresses to single handedly bring down a corrupt organization conspiring against the kingdom of Vale, say I."

I heard Yang yell out, "YES, I love it when you're feisty."

Then I heard Weiss sigh, "Well, I guess it could be fun."

I opened the door connecting our rooms, unknown to the four occupying it. Blake looked relieved, "Alright then, we're in this together."

Ruby held both her arms in the air, "Let's hatch a plan!"

"Like hell you are" I said.

All four of them spun around, surprised at my sudden interjection. Yang's face lit up, "Davian, what to help us take do-"

I immediately shook my head, "No I'm not, and neither are any of you."

Yang faltered, "Wha-what do you mean no?"

I fling my hand in the direction of the window towards Vale, "I am not going to let you four run off and get yourselves killed fighting a group of people that should be left to professional huntsmen!"

Blake pleaded, "Davian please, we only want to hel-"

"No," I snapped, "we've already talked about this and I'm not going to repeat myself. If you four try to run off I'll stop you myself."

Yang looked at me disbelievingly, "Are you serious?! We only want to help people, that's what we're being trained to do!"

"If it means keeping you all safe, them you'll damn well believe I'm serious." I stared at them for a few more seconds before turning around and walk back into my room calling over my shoulder, "Just drop this and let the _experienced_ huntsmen handle it." I shut the door, hoping beyond hope that they'd listen to me. I sat down on my bed with my head in my hands, trying to force certain memories down into the dark pit they resided in, "I can't lose them again" I whispered to myself. Unknown to me, they continued to make plans in whispered conversation, still set on stopping the Fang, even if they had to behind my back to do it.

 **And I'm back and finished with chapter 11. I would like to apologize on the wait, but I wasn't able to type anything up from where I spent my Christmas break and I ended scrapping a chunk of what I had written during that time. This forced me to rewrite, revise, and edit what I had written after those parts. But now I'm back on track and will be getting back on a regular schedule.**

 **As for this chapter, I'm sorry it was slightly shorter than normal, but I found that to be a good place to stop. I'll be cutting together both** " _ **Painting the Town"**_ **episodes, so the next chapter should be a bit longer. I also hope I captured my own little spin on the food fight well enough. Did anyone catch my RedvsBlue reference? If not, I'll tell you everyone's favorite blue and resident idiot said it in Season 7. Well, that's all I have to say.**

 **Hope you liked the chapter and feel free to leave a review with any questions, comments, or if you just want to make yourself known. So farewell for the time being and I'll begin writing again soon…**

 **Archangel out….**


	13. Chapter 12 - Comes Around

**CHAPTER TWEEEEEELLLLVE *Enter guitar solo*! I'm back everyone with the greatly anticipated chapter of RWBY's "Painting the Town Part one and two". So, I now realize why many of you were probably confused with some POV changes (Especially in chapter seven). When I typed in a line of dashes to indicate a scene change, I found that they don't show on the Fanfiction site. So I'll try to come up with another way to indicate that and will try to be more careful in the future. Now, I won't make you wait any longer so, let's get a-rollen!**

"So there I was, surrounded by eight Deathstalkers. No ammo, no backup, no food, and no mustache wax. Truly a perilous situation for any fully trained Huntsman!" Port suddenly turned towards us, "But I was unfazed by their deathly appearance. I stood boldly in their line of sight to draw attention away from the village that was being evacuated not a mile away." He then turned towards the depiction of the Deathstalker on the board and pointed at the deadly tail, "All eight of the fiends charged and tried to impale me with their stingers, but I dodged and weaved until they all got stuck in the ground." Port held both his arms up like he was a roaring bear, "And then I-" * _RIIIINNNG_ * Port looked up at the clock, "Oh, um, must of timed that one wrong I guess. Well, the stunning conclusion will have to wait until next time. Class dismissed, and remember, stay vigilant!"

I chuckled at one of the goofiest teachers ever to walk Beacon's halls, truly not understanding how nobody couldn't find his stories at least somewhat humorous. As I stood up, I saw Jaune get turned down by Weiss…again, "No, no, no, yes."

Jaune groaned and laid his head down on the desk as we all were walking past JNPR. Yang just ruffled Jaune's hair a bit and tried to reassure him, "One day."

As I passed, I noticed Pyrrha glancing at Jaune kinda sadly so I leaned in towards her a bit, "You gotta tell him some time Pyr, he's as dense as a mountain when it comes to this stuff."

She went crimson, thinking no one had seen her looking at Jaune, "I-I-I don't kn-know what you're talking about."

I smirked, "Yeah, I'm sure you don't."

I made my way back to my dorm to shower the day's worth of classroom grime off my body. As I took my shirt of, I looked up into the mirror and saw the maze of scars that plagued my body. The big blotchy one's of burns, the precise one's of blades, and the jagged tears of teeth and claws. You would of been hard pressed to find an area bigger than your hand without some form of mark. As I stood there, my mind began to wonder back to the darkest point in my imprisonment. The reason I truly feared anyone I cared for going near those monsters.

By the time I came out of my trance, an hour and a half had passed and the water in the shower had run cold. I groaned, "Great job Vin, not only am I depressed, now I'm forced to take a freezing shower." I bit the bullet and jumped in, forcing myself to ignore the cold and cleaned quickly before stepping out to dry. Glancing at the clock, I saw it was 5:45, meaning that the cafeteria was now serving dinner. I buttoned up a gray, long sleeved shirt and put on some jeans along with a pair of black combat boots before knocking on RWBY's door.

Receiving nothing but silence. I knocked again, "Girls, you want to go get some food?" Still nothing. Confused, I opened the door to find it empty, door locked, and lights off, meaning that they weren't planning to be back for some time. Humming, I closed the door and walked out of mine, making sure to lock my door so no one could get into mine or RWBY's dorm. Making my way to the cafeteria, I figured that they must of went ahead of me while I was in the shower.

Arriving, I scanned the entirety of the room looking for a beacon of golden hair that would signify Yang, and by extension everyone else. Finding nothing, I scanned again to make sure, but still nothing. As I turned to walk out I heard someone yell out my name, "DAVIAN, OVER HERE!"

Turning back around, I saw Nora standing on JNPR's table by the serving window waving her arms like a maniac, and in doing so, drawing the attention of the entire cafeteria to her then to me before shaking their heads, used to JNPR's, and by extension, RWBY's odd dynamic of doing things.

I walked quickly over to them, hoping they'd have answers, "Do you four know where Ruby and the others are?"

Ren looked confused, "We were just about to ask you that." He shrugged before continuing, "We just assumed you were with them like always."

I sighed as I looked around again, "I was thinking they'd gone ahead of me to get food while I was in the shower, but I lost track of time and ended up staying in my dorm longer than expected."

Pyrrha offered a reassuring smile, "I'm sure they're all rig-"

"Breaking News coming to you live!" Hearing a news report come over the TV in the kitchen, we turned to watch. Lisa Lavender was giving the report, "Just earlier today, General Ironwood of Atlas announced the production of their new mechanized battle suits, the Atlesian Paladin. He informed us that they would be used in protecting our borders within the year, but as you can now see, one is currently crashing through downtown Vale." When she was talking, a live video popped onto the lower right hand part of the screen showing a Paladin running down a highway.

My eyes widened, "Please don't tell m-"

"Just in, a team of Hunters have engaged the Paladin!" The video enlarged to fill the entire screen showing a familiar figure with blue hair stab the cockpit before being thrown off, right into another familiar figure with a white shirt and tail. Though what really caught my attention was a white figure jumping off a higher roadway before coating the street with a layer of ice. Pyrrha spun around to comment but I was already gone, sprinting towards the landing pad.

As I reached the pad, I was able to get a Bullhead pilot to take me to the others at its top speed that would get me there within two and a half minutes. I sat there anxiously tapping my foot as the pilot called back to me, "Thirty seconds to drop kid! Are you sure you want to do this?"

I took a deep breath, "I don't have a choice, my teammates are down there." I glanced out the window in time to see Ruby and Blake tag-team the Paladin, effectively severing one of its arms. I quickly yelled up to the pilot, "Just hover above them and open the door before bugging out!" Five seconds later the door slid open and I jumped. Ten meters before hitting the ground, I teleported and kicked off a support pillar and landed in a roll to cushion my fall.

Ignoring the pain in my shoulder from the impact, I looked up and my eyes widened in horror as I saw Yang get smashed through two concrete pillars before being punched through another. Vision going red, I teleported on top of the Paladin as it aimed down at Yang who was slowly getting to her feet looking extremely pissed. I, using my aura, smashed my fist through the window of the cockpit and found Torchwick staring at me shocked. Grabbing him by his collar, I threw him to the ground as I felt the Paladin collapse beneath me as Yang utterly destroyed it, forcing me to jump off and land next to her.

Apparently not seeing me, Yang looked over my shoulder and fired a round from Ember Celica at Torchwick only for some pink, white, and brown colored girl to jumped in front of him and block the shot with a parasol. Torchwick grinned, "Kiddies…Ice Queen," Weiss yelled out in annoyance, "always a pleasure. Neo, if you would."

The now named Neo sassily bowed at us, causing Yang to charged at them yelling. As she smashed her fist into the girl, both she and Torchwick shattered like glass. We all spun in circles, trying to figure out where they disappeared to. A few seconds later, we heard the sound of an engine and saw a Bullhead fly off with a extremely smug Torchwick waving at us.

Yang just glared at the disappearing ship, "So I guess he got a new henchmen."

Weiss looked over at Yang, "Yeah, I guess she really made our plans...fall apart" she ended grinning.

Ruby, just now realizing that I was still standing there glaring at them, tried to get the others attention, "Ummm, guys."

They didn't hear her as Blake sighed and rubbed her temples while Yang glared incredulously, "No, just…no."

Weiss pouted and put her hands on her hips, "What, but you'd do it!"

Ruby tried to get there attention again, "Guuuuyyyyysss," but was unsuccessful.

Yang put her hands on her hips as well, "There's a time and a place for jokes."

Weiss held her and up and waved it around, pointing at the carnage, "Was this not it?"

Yang just turned and started walking away, "Noooo, it just wasn't very good."

Weiss huffed and went to follow Yang, "Well at least I'm trying."

Ruby saw me grinding my teeth and yell out, "GUYS!" They all spun around about to ask what was so important but they stopped when they saw what Ruby was pointing at…me.

Blake and Weiss just stared at the ground sheepishly while Yang rubbed the back of her head and kinda laughed, "Heeeey Davi-"

"What the hell are you four doing," I asked?

Ruby rubbed her arm and looked down at the ground while stuttering out, "W-we were just, um, just, hanging out in Vale whe-when we…saw the…Paladin-"

She slowed to a stop and kinda shrunk back as I glared at her, "Ruby, you could never lie to save your life the entire time I lived with you and I doubt that has changed." I pointed at a piece of the Paladin that you could still make out where the White Fang symbol had been painted on, "I don't believe that for a second. I told you girls that you were to NOT go after these guys unsupervised, but as soon as you make your next trip to Vale, you're suddenly fighting their arms dealer."

Blake met my eyes, "And what would you do in our place? All we want to do is help take down a misguided organization and stop the violence. Is that wrong?"

I shook my head, "No, that's not wrong."

Yang looked kinda mad, "Than what's the pro-"

I held up my hand to stop her. We stayed silent for a few seconds before Weiss huffed out, "What are you doi-"

"Shh, just listen" I said. We did, and the girls finally heard the sirens and groans of pain above us on the freeway. Realization dawning upon their eyes as I continued, "While you did a good job of stopping your target, you completely forgot to factor in the civilians in the way." I pointed over my shoulder at the icicles hanging off the edge of the bridge, "The ice was a good way to mess with the mech, but it sure as hell also hurt a lot of people on the freeway as well."

Weiss looked sick, "W-we didn't me-mean to hurt anyone. We just wanted to stop the Paladin from rampaging around anymore" she said weakly.

This entire time Yang had held her silence but now decided to speak up, "We. Were. Trying. To. Help" she said while glaring at me.

I matched her glare, "Three of you have no idea what you're dealing with," I then looked at Blake, "and the fourth doesn't seem to care what she's dragging her friends into."

Blake looked mad, Weiss and Ruby looked to be on the verge of tears and Yang's hair burst into flames, signifying her anger, "That's not fare Davian! We told Blake we'd help her, she didn't drag anyone here."

I shook my head, "The fact that she's not willing to let peo-"

"DAVIN!" We all turn to Ruby who has tears in her eyes. She looked right at me, and when I saw the sorrow that was pooled in her eyes, I felt all my anger drain away, "I know we messed up, but we just want to help Davian, that's all we wanted." She wiped her eyes before continuing, "If you need to go tell Ozpin what we're doing, then so be it. But it we were given another chance, we'd do it all over again because we believe it's the right thing to do, and we will not stop doing what we believe is right."

We all stared at Ruby in disbelief, not expecting the adorable, carefree fifteen year old we knew to say anything like that. I looked at the rest of her team and found that they were like minded before looking around at what they had accomplished on their own. I thought for a few seconds before reaching into my pocket for my scroll and they watched as I selected the Headmaster's contact. The screen said 'please wait' for a few seconds before a live video popped up showing him sitting at his desk, "Mr. Kadar, what can I do for you?"

I looked back at Ruby who stood firm in her decision with her team behind her all the way. The corner of my mouth slightly curved up as I answered Ozpin, "We could use a pick-up Headmaster, the situation is contained down here."

Ozpin didn't respond for a few seconds, "Very well, I'll have a Bullhead there in a few minutes." He paused, "Is there anything else you'd like to add?"

I shook my head and didn't break eye contact with Ruby, "Nothing Headmaster."

He nods his head, "Very well." He terminated the call as I put my scroll away. Blake, Ruby, and Weiss looked relieved, but more thankful than anything. Yang, she stared, still very upset at me for threatening to stop them. Without a word, she turned around and walked off.

Ruby called after her, "Yang, where are you going?"

Not even stopping she called back, "I'll take Bumblebee back to Beacon, I want to be alone."

Weiss, Blake, and Ruby watched her walk off before sighing and sitting down on some rubble to wait for the Bullhead. Ruby looked over at me to find I hadn't moved as I held my face in my hand. She walked over and hugged me, "You just wanted to keep us safe, you didn't do anything wrong."

I chuckled humorously, "That's the thing Rubes, I did. I tried to stop you all from doing what we all are training to do all because I'm afraid."

"You're not afria-" she began to say as she took a step back to look me in the eye.

I interrupted her, "Yes I am," I looked down and stared at the scars crisscrossing my arms, "I'm not the same carefree, joking guy I was four years ago Ruby and I never will be again. After everything that has happened I'm now cold, bitter, heartless, and scared."

Even before I finished speaking, Ruby was already shaking her head, "No you're not." She looked me in the eye and poked my chest, "That old you from four years ago is still inside there whether you see that or not, but we do." She pointed at Blake, "A cold person wouldn't of forgiven Blake at the beginning of the year." She then pointed at her partner, "A bitter person wouldn't put of with Weiss." She then pointed at the disappearing form of Yang, "And a heartless person wouldn't love my sister as much as you do." I watched as Yang got farther and farther away, but before she disappeared front sight, she glared back at me one last time before she turned the corner.

 **(POV Ruby)**

I sat on my on my bed holding my legs against my chest as I watched my team get ready for the night. Weiss was in the shower while Blake laid in her bed waiting for her turn. After Blake, my eyes wandered up above her at Yang's bed and saw her laying down with her back to us. After a few minutes Weiss stepped out of the bathroom and I was able to catch her eye along with Blake's and silently asked them to step outside for a minute. They both looked up at Yang before nodding their heads and walking out silently. I jumped of my bed and crawled up into Yang's and tapped her leg.

She slightly turned her head enough to see who it was, "What do you need Ruby," she mumbled?

I sighed, "You've been acting weird since we destroyed the Paladin, so what's wrong?"

Yang went back to staring at the wall, "Nothing."

I raised an eyebrow, "I'm going to take a page out of Davian's book, 'I don't believe that for a second'. So what's wrong?" Yang tensed as I said Davian, showing me what was on her mind, "He just wants to protect us Ya-"

Yang shot up, eyes red, "That's just it! I'm sick of him not believing that we can't handle ourselves!" She threw her hand in the direction of Davian's room, "Ever since he got back, he's been acting like I'm a fragile piece of glass that needs to be protected at all costs. I'd normally find that adorable and chalk it up as him being protective, but when he starts thinking that we can't fight," she clenched her teeth, "that's not fair."

My shoulders sagged, "You know he doesn't think that Yang."

Yang just punched the wall, putting her fist through it yelling, "YES HE DOES!" She then turned on me, "Why the hell are you siding with him on this" she yelled at me angrily!? I felt my eyes fill with tears as my big sister got mad at me. I quickly looked down at my hands so she wouldn't see me crying, but as soon as I did, she knew she had gone to far. The red fled from her eyes like a receding tide as she pulled me into a loving hug and cradled my head in her shoulder as she whispered she was sorry over and over again. After a few minutes, my eyes had dried and Yang spoke again softly, "I didn't mean it Ruby, I'm just…frustrated right now. I want to stop the people that hurt Davian, but he's not letting us and I don't know why."

"He's afraid," I mumbled into her shoulder.

Yang pushed me back a bit to look me in the eye and tilted her head to the side, "Afraid of what?"

I sniffed, "I don't know, but we talked when you walked off after fighting the Paladin. Davian told me he had messed up with how he reacted to us wanting to fight the White Fang because he was afraid."

Yang's eyes softened as she heard how her boyfriend had felt after he snapped at them, "He really said th-"

Our conversation was interrupted by the door opening and Blake poking her head in, "Have either of you seen Davian since we got back?"

Yang and I looked at each other before looking back at Blake, "We thought he was in his room," Yang said.

Blake shook her head, "He's not, I just checked."

Yang quickly jumped off her bed and swung the door connecting Davian's room to ours open to find it empty. She then walked quickly over to her scroll and tried calling him. I hopped off the bed and stood next to her, "Is he answering?"

After a few seconds Yang shook her head and pocketed her scroll, "No, it went straight to voice-mail." She bit her lower lip as she thought about where Davian could of gone.

Eventually she slipped her boots on and walked for the door. "Where are you going," I asked?

Without stopping Yang slipped past Blake calling over her shoulder, "I have a boyfriend to find." With that she closed the door and we didn't see her again for several hours.

 **(POV Davian)**

I sat with my back against the Beacon statue in the front of the school, eyes forward as I watched the full moon straight ahead. On the outside, you wouldn't of thought I had anything going through my mind, but internally my thoughts were like a raging storm. As I sat there, I tried to think of ways to make things up to Yang. I knew I hadn't been treating her fairly ever since I got back, but I couldn't help it. The need to protect her and Ruby were so ingrained in my mind that it was just reflex.

After half an hour, a voice startled me out of my internal struggle, "Do you know how long I've been looking for you?" My head snapped up to find Yang standing in front of me with her hands on her hips, "I've been looking for nearly two hours now." She sat down in front of me, "We have some stuff to talk about." I mutely nodded my head as she continued, "We both messed up you know, not just you."

My eyebrows furrowed before it clicked, "You talked with Ruby, didn't you?"

Yang nodded her head, "Yeah, yeah I did."

I sighed, "Is this the part where you beat what-ever my next secret is out of me?" I said smiling slightly.

Yang shook her head, "That's not what this is about. Not yet at least." She scooted over next to me, "While you've been playing over-protective boyfriend, I've been the bitchy girlfriend."

I chuckled, "Not bitchy, just frustrated and rightfully so. We're training to be Hunters and I wasn't letting you be one."

We were silent for several minutes before I felt her lay her head down in my lap. I slowly ran my hand through her hair and massaged her scalp, "If you're tired we should go inside and get you to bed."

She shook her head, "No, too comfortable" she mumbled out. I chuckled as I leaned down to kiss her forehead. As we sat there, an idea popped into my head, "Yang, you still awake?" I felt her head nod a bit, "I just thought of a way to make things up to you."

Opening her lilac eyes, she turned onto her back and tilted her head to the side a bit, "Yeah, and what's that?"

I smiled softly, "Will you, Yang Xiao-Long, allow me, Davian Kadar, to accompany you to the dance this weekend and to dinner afterwards?"

Yang stared wide-eyed at me before grinning and pulling me down to kiss me. We held for nearly two minutes before we were forced to pull away from lack of air. I raised an eyebrow while a small smile broke my face, "Can I take that as a yes?"

She just closed her eyes and chuckled before nodding her head, "Yes, you can take that for a yes." We both smiled as we went back to sitting in a comfortable silence while I continued to run my hand through her hair. It was several hours later that I slipped back into my dorm after putting Yang to bed when she had fallen asleep. As I began to drift into unconsciousness, I made a promise to myself. I promised that as long as the girls were going to fight the White Fang, then I'd move heaven and hell to keep them safe. And woe to anyone that stands in my way, for I shall tear them apart without an ounce of remorse or a shred mercy.

 **Thus, it was finished. Chapter twelve has come and gone. I felt relatively happy with this chapter if I do say so myself. While this chapter may not of had many happy times, I will tell you the next chapter will be fluffy and happy for the most-part if not all.**

 **Something I realized about my story is that I don't have a ton of action which wasn't my intention. I labeled the story a Hurt/Comfort and** _ **Adventure**_ **, but I've been lacking the adventure part. Soooo, I'll try to fix that in future chapters.**

 **So I hope you guys and gals liked the chapter and feel free to leave a review with any questions, comments, or if you just want to make yourself known.**

 **Archangel Out….**


	14. Chapter 13 - Back In Action

***Best announcer voice* LET'S GET SOME ACTION IN HEEERRRRREEE! *End announcer voice* So I pumped this chapter out really fast in case you didn't notice. No, please, hold your applause. So I'm starting this chapter off with a very special fight (And a change in cannon) for you, the readers. So without further adieu, let the fight…BEGIN!**

It's the small things in life that make it worth living. Like waking up to a fresh blanket of snow on Christmas morning. Or the feeling of finishing a really long book or game. You know, the good stuff, and it's different for every person. Maybe you don't like snow, books, or games but instead you like TV, drawing, and the playing an instrument. Well for me, watching Pyrrha beat the everlasting shit out of CRDL was doing just fine. My team along with Nora, Jaune, and Ren were sitting in the stands watching the most impressive four verses one fight this year. Normally they end horribly, with the loner getting his ass kicked. Maybe taking down one or two, but this…this was entertaining.

I sat there with a grin on my face as Pyrrha dodged a thrust from Sky by twirling in the air, simultaneously blocking a swing from Cardin with her shield before landing and tripping the two of them. Yang sat behind me, resting her head on mine with her arms wrapped around my neck to balance herself, "You're enjoying this aren't you?"

As Pyrrha hit Cardin thirty into the air I turned my head so she could see me smiling, "I have no idea what you're talking about." Pyrrha then proceed to grab Cardin and spin him head first into the ground, "None whatsoever."

I turned back towards the arena as the lights brightened and Ms. Goodwitch walked up, "And that's the match."

Cardin glared at Pyrrha, "Lucky shot," then fell over unconscious with a groan.

Goodwitch spared Cardin a small glance while commenting on Pyrrha, "Well done Ms. Nikos, you should have no problem qualifying for the tournament."

Pyrrha bowed her head slightly, "Thank-you professor."

Ms. Goodwitch messed with her scroll for a second, "Alright, I know that's a tough act to follow, but we have time for one more sparring match. Any volunteers?" She looked around the room before resting on Blake, "Ms. Belladonna, you've been rather docile for the last few classes, why don't you-"

"I'll do it." Everyone turned around and found that silver haired Haven transfer raising his hand.

Ms. Goodwitch adjusted her glasses a bit, "Mercury it it?" She shrugged, "Very well, let's find you an appointment."

"Actually," he interrupted, "I wanna fight…" he looked around a bit before his eyes settled on me and pointing, "him."

Alarm-bells went off in my head as that feeling that I'd seen him before somewhere not only strengthened, but now a marching band is wailing along with them. Ms. Goodwitch looked at her scroll a bit before shrugging, "Very well," she motioned towards the door, "Mr. Kadar, if you would, please proceed to the locker room and change into your combat attire."

Without a second delay, Mercury jumped down into the arena already in his combat clothes. As I began to stand up, Yang pulled me down for a second, "Good luck and kick ass." With that she gave me a kiss on the cheek that was observed by a certain mint green girl behind us as I stood up and walked out. I quickly changed into the new combat clothes my parents had gotten me for Christmas, strapped on my sword and new bow before quickly jogging out to the arena.

I slowed into a walk as I reached my spot as Goodwitch explain the rules again, "This will be a tournament style match. Once one of your aura's drops into the red, I'll call the match. Any question?" I shook my head as Mercury waved his hand at Goodwitch, completely focusing on me. She huffed in annoyance, "Very well, the match will begin in fifteen seconds."

As she walked off, a countdown timer could be heard, "Match will begin in fifteen seconds, fourteen seconds-".

As we stood there, Mercury just smirked at me which caused that feeling to strengthen and a headache to start. I started muttering to myself, "I had to of been before I left, because I would remember him if I had seen him this year."

"Eight seconds, seven seconds-"

I was completely oblivious to the timer as my internal monologue continued, "But where, at Signal maybe? No, Yang doesn't recognize him and she knew every guy in our grade."

What snapped me out of my thoughts was Yang yelling at me to move…and the kick to the head that sent me sliding across the arena. I quickly got to my feet but was seeing double and unsteady. As shook my head, causing a the headache to send a sharp sliver of pain through my skull. Pushing passed the pain, I shook my head again just in time to block the next kick with my hands.

Mercury flipped backwards and smirked at me, "Gotta pay attention man, otherwise you'll only get hurt worse."

I shrugged, "Eh, I try to only focus on the important things." He scowled at me as I jumped forwards pulling my sheath off my back and transformed my weapon into its polearm mode. As I landed, I rolled and came out with a downward swing that forced Mercury to backpedal. I followed up with a forward thrust only for him to grab the polearm and throw me behind him. But as soon as I flew passed him, I stabbed the blade into the ground and swung around with a kick to the head that sent him across the arena like he did to me.

As he got back on his feet, he looked at me and hummed, as if he was saying 'not bad'. Before I could do anything, he charged and attacked me with a flurry of kicks that left me hard-pressed. I blocked one with my polearm, but it was knocked out of my hands by a follow-up kick. I quickly tried to grab it before it hit the ground but he kicked again, forcing me to block. I retaliated by teleporting above him upside down, grabbing my polearm at the bottom of the hilt, and spun around in midair trying to catch him off-guard. He, very quickly, ducked under the swing and backflipped away towards Ms. Goodwitch.

I growled as I put away my polearm and pulled out my bow, notching an arrow on the string and charged. As I pulled back the string, Mercury turned to Ms. Goodwitch nonchalantly, "I forfeit."

My eyes widened as I quickly aimed the bow at the ground, unable to stop the releasing arrow and tripped on it. I quickly shot my right hand forward and spring-boarded off it and landed in a crouch. I tiled my head to the side, "You…forfeit?"

He held his hands up and shrugged with an air of smugness, "I know when I'm beaten." By now I've done away with the whole bell thing and have just replaced it with a train going at top speed while blowing its whistling as loud as it could.

Ms. Goodwitch got over her surprise quickly and ended the match, "In that case, Davian Kadar is the victor of the match, making his win/loss ratio four and two." She then turned to Mercury, "You may want to think a little _harder_ before choosing an appointment next time."

Mercury just smirked as he walked away and waved, "I'll be sure to do that."

I watched him walk off before heading to the locker room clutching my head as it continued to throb. Reaching it, I lowered my face mask a bit and opened the med station before knocking back two pain relievers. I sat down on a bench with a groan and held my head. As I sat there heard a group of people walk up in front of me. Looking up, I found the rest of my team standing there looking concerned, or at least all of them would of been if Blake hadn't been hiding the bags under her eyes behind a book.

Without saying anything, Yang pulled the tri-corn hat and face mask of my head to get a better look at the nasty bruise that was forming on my lower left jaw and neck. She sighed, "Why didn't you dodge or anything, he came straight at you?"

I hissed as she poked it to test its severity, "Distracted, have a killer headache."

Weiss handed Yang some ice wrapped in paper towels, "You were fine before heading down, what caused it?"

I breathed in sharply as Yang pressed the ice against the bruised area, "I swear I've seen him and that green haired girl somewhere, but I can't remember. I guess I just thought to hard for once." I then turned to Yang, "Are you sure we didn't go to Signal with either of them?"

Yang nodded her head as she pulled me to my feet, "Yeah, I'm positive we didn't."

I sighed, "Don't know why this is bothering me so much."

Ruby shrugged as we walked out of the building, "I wouldn't worry about it, I'm sure it's nothing."

"Hey Blake," We all turned around to see Sun jogging towards us waving, "you, uhh, doing okay?"

"I'm fine," she grumbled as she put down her book.

Sun cleared his throat, "So, I hear there's this dance going on this weekend," Blake's expression soured causing Sun to sputter a bit, "I mean, sounds pretty lame, but you and me I'm thinking, not as lame" he ended hopefully.

Blake just glared, "What?"

Sun continued, "The dance, this weekend, do ya want to go or what?"

Blake just continued to glare, "I don't have time for a stupid dance, I thought you of all people would get that." Blake walked away, leaving a crushed Sun whose tail and eyes had fallen to the ground as he turned around and walked away. Ruby, Weiss, Yang and I had stood there the entire time and saw the whole thing.

Yang looked at me pleadingly. I sighed, "You three go on and try talking to her, " I glanced at the retreating form of a depressed monkey, "I'll catch up." Yang nodded her head and ran after Blake with Weiss and Ruby on her heels and I quickly caught up with Sun.

When Sun saw me he sighed, "Did I do something wrong?"

I shook my head as I patted his shoulder, "No, Blake's just tense right now." Sun nodded his head but still looked sad. I looked over his shoulder and saw Neptune and two other guys I didn't recognize staring at us. I nudged Sun a bit to get his attention before nodding at towards them, "Who're the two with Nep?"

Sun's eyes kinda lit up, "Right, you guys haven't met my team yet." He cupped his hands, "Hey guys, come over here!"

Neptune and the other two guys looked at each-other before shrugging and walking over. As they reached us, Sun clapped a guy with red hair on the shoulder, "This annoying bastard is Scarlet."

The now named Scarlet pushed Sun's hand off his shoulder, "You know how I am an annoying bastard? You're like an irritating prick. There's a subtle difference there."

Sun just ignored him and nodded at the green haired guy, "And the big guy's name is Sage." He just nodded his head a bit and smiled.

I nodded my head in greeting, "Nice to finally meet you, Sun said he'd introduce you guys when you got into town."

"How do you know Sun" Scarlet asked?

I pointed at him with my thumb, "He helped me help my teammate Blake with a personal problem back during first semester before you guys got here."

Scarlet eyes shot up, "Wait wait wait wait, you're partners with that girl Blake Sun likes?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Teammates, not partners."

He waved his hands in front of him wildly, "NOT THE POINT! You mean to tell me that you're on a team with a girl!"

I slowly nodded my head, "Yeeeees, Blake, Weiss, Ruby, Yang, and I are all on-"

Scarlet's jaw dropped, "YOU'RE ON A TEAM OF ALL GIRLS!" He stopped seeing us as he gazed into the distance, "That has to be amazing," he muttered to himself.

Sage tilted his head to the side in confusion, "How are you on a team that already had four people?"

I waved my hand dismissively, "I'm just a fifth member on paper, not in name. Their team name is still R-W-B-Y whether I'm there or not. As for how, I'm here under…unique circumstances."

He raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean unique circums-?"

Sun put a hand up to stop him, "Don't ask dude, just, don't ask."

Sage paused before bowing slightly, "My apologies."

I waved him off, "Don't worry about it, you didn't know, and thank-you for the privacy."

Scarlet butted back in, "So what's it like?"

I glanced between Sun, Neptune, and Sage who had their face in their hand before looking back at Scarlet, "What's what like?"

He pointed at the four girls that were walking away in the distance, "What's it like living in the same room with four beautiful girls?!"

I chuckled, "One, not the same room. They're separated by a door. And two, it's not as nice as you'd think."

Scarlet flipped, "What do ya mean" he yelled in his odd, squeaky accent!

I smirked, "Have you ever lived with a woman besides a mother or sister?" Getting a shake in the negative I continued, "They're as meticulous as guys say, especially if we're talking about Weiss." He raised a finger to speak again but I cut him off, "And yes, they do synchronize." Scarlet's face scrunched up as he tried to figure out what I said. I clarified, "What I mean is that one time every month, my life literally become bloody hell." That shut him up real quick and we all were laughing as Scarlet's face morphed from one of confusion to horror as he realized what I meant.

Sun wiped his eyes, "You fucking face was amazing!"

I caught my breath as I stopped laughing and glanced at my scroll, "I gotta go, I'll see you guys later." We all said our goodbyes before I walked away, but before I got to far I turned around and yelled at Sun, "My team and I will talk to Blake and see if we can get her to change her mind." Sun's grin widened as he touched his brow in thanks. Sighing, I turned around and walked back to the dorms hoping that I'll be able to follow through.

-][-

I arrived at RWBY's dorm only to hear, "I think this is a colossal waste of time." The door opened and Blake walked out bumping right into me. Without even an apology, she muttered, "I'll be in the library."

I watched as she turned the corner and nearly bumped into someone again. "Excuse me Blake," and that someone was Jaune carrying a guitar.

I quickly stepped inside and sat down next to Yang before he saw me as Weiss said, "She can't keep going like this."

Before anyone could reply, there was a knock on the door. Weiss got up to answer, much to my amusement. Yang leaned forward to look at my face, "What are you smirking about?"

I covered my mouth with my left hand to stop any laughter from slipping out as I held up three fingers with my right and counted down with them. As I reached zero, we all heard the sound of a strumming guitar. We all stood up and leaned out to get a better view of a annoyed (And disturbed) Weiss and Jaune as he tried to serenade her into going to the dance with him. This earned him a face full of door, only for him to convince Weiss to open it a second time only for him to start singing again.

When he finished, Weiss stood there with crossed arms, "Are you done?"

"Yes," Jaune said, very unsure.

Weiss just stared at him for a few seconds before giving him her answer, "...no." She slammed the door in his face again before turning back towards us to find me sitting on Blake's bed with my head slumped forward as my shoulders shook from laughter. Ruby and Yang were both smirking, but also just staring at Weiss, "What?"

Yang pointed at the door, "Aaaannd that is why they call you the ice queen."

Weiss huffed, "All my life, boys have only cared about the perks of my last name." She then smirked, "Besides, I already have a date in mind."

Ruby looked down sadly, "Date or not date, none of this will matter if we can't get Blake to go."

I sighed as I got my laughter under control, "I don't know what to do. You all know how my last talk went with Blake. She just went off with you four and did the exact opposite of what I asked her not to do." I then looked to my lower left as I thought, "In fact, the last time she listened to any advice I gave was back when we were kids dealing with racist bullies."

We all stood there in silence as we tried to think of something but to no avail. Yang eventually huffed and sat back down on Blake's bed with me, "We'll think of something, even if it ends up being we just hogtie her and bring her with us on Sunday. Until then, there's not much we can do." We all nodded and got ready for bed, unaware of the evil that had infiltrated Beacon.

 **(POV - A Certain Group Of Villainous Assholes)**

"And we were supposed to get information on Pyrrha Nikos, but SOMEBODY changed the plan at the last second" Emerald said as she glared at Mercury.

He shrugged indifferently, "She'll be easy to get info on later, she fights all the time. Our good friend Davian is the one we didn't know anything about."

Emerald shook her head, "We don't even know if it's the same guy. 'Davian Kadar' isn't exactly a unique name. In fact, I can tell you that their are at least thirty other individuals with that name in the four kingdoms, and those are just the ones I was able to find."

Merc chuckled which caught my attention as well as Cinder's, "Oh, it's him alright." He then patted his face, "With a scar like that on his face, it's hard to mistake him for any other Kadar," Mercury then scowled, "that and the wisecracking."

Emerald smirked, "He was always able to make you pissed with just a few words." The small grin started to grow into a full-blown smile, "If it really is him, then I know how to take him down without a fight."

I glanced at Cinder as she smiled seductively, "Oh do tell."

Emerald continued, "Some big blond bimbo kissed his cheek before he went to change and also helped him patch up his face after the fight."

Cinder's smile grew as well, but into one that was much more terrifying as Mercury continued from where he left off, "He's good, really good. After what the Fang did to him he holds back when he fights, but you can see through his façade if you know what to look for." He then waved his hand at her, "But you should be able to take him without to much difficulty."

Cinder just rolled her eyes like she'd told Mercury this many times, "It's not about overpowering the enemy, it's about taking away what power they have." She smirked, "And we will, in time."

Mercury flopped onto the floor, "I hate waiting" he whined.

I scowled at his insolence, "Quit your whining you little brat."

Mercury rolled his head onto its side and was about to refute that statement when Cinder interrupted him, "No need to be so hostile, you are a guest." She then looked back down at her sewing, "But don't worry Mercury, we have a fun weekend ahead of us."

 **OC VILLAIN! There's a reason I left him/her very undeveloped. I want YOU, THE READER to PM me character bio's for a villain and you just might get him/her inserted into the story as a very important character later on.**

 **I'm sorry this chapter was a little shorter than normal, but the last scene with Cinder and company was a good place to stop. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuttttt…I FINALLY got some fight scenes in! Again, I apologize about that, I've been so focused on character development that I forgot the whole adventure part of my story.**

 **As for the actual scene, I could use some feedback telling me what I could be doing better. While I'm good at dialogue, I have trouble taking the fighting I have pictured in my brain and putting it down on paper. So any criticism is welcome.**

 **Well, that's all I have to say, so write ya next time…**

 **Archangel Out…**


	15. Chapter 14 - Tired Eyes and Dances

**First things first, I'm sorry for the delay for this chapter but school has been kicking my ass these past two weeks. Second, it's time for some happy and emotional times that involve some humor, a dance, and fluff. That's right ladies and gents, it's time for-"**

 **Yang: THE DANCE!**

… **really…we're going to do this?**

 **Yang grinning: Yep, and there's nothing you can do about it!**

 **-I grin widely myself- Oh but there is…blackmail.**

 **Yang: Blackmail?**

 **-Nodding head- Yep, I'm the author. So that means I can make you wear an absolutely horrible outfit to the dance, and that would just be embarrassing as well as disappoint my main man Davian.**

 **Davian: Arch, be nice.**

 **Yang: …..You wouldn't dare…..**

 **-Grabbing notebook and begins writing- Hmmmm, how about a bright pink tutu?**

 **Yang: -sweating bullets- Please no**

 **-Lightbulb before snapping fingers- OH OH I got it! Lime green overalls with a hot pink t-shirt underneath while wearing purple cowboy boots and baby blue stockings.**

 **Yang: …. -Grabs notebook before running back to the dorm at full speed-**

 **-Throws hands into the air- VICTORY!**

 **Now that that's taken care of, you guys and girls go ahead and read the chapter while I try to figure out a way to keep the characters out of my author notes. Enjoy-**

"How does that look?" I yelled down to Yang.

She looked up at me from where she was carrying a giant subwoofer and grinned as she glanced across the ceiling at the pink streamers I had strewn around, "I like the view!"

Just now realizing my shirt had ridden up (Much to Yang's viewing delight), I chuckled as I unwound my legs from the rafter and dropped thirty feet to the floor, using my aura to cushion my fall. Landing in a crouch, I stood up and fixed my shirt as I looked around the room. Streamers placed, tables set up, and speakers being put into position now. As my wondering gaze made its way towards the stage, I saw Ruby sitting at a table looking very depressed. As I made my way over, Weiss huffed and walked back over to some book full of different colored cloths, for some reason holding two of the same in her hands. I reached the table right as Yang slammed down the subwoofer, causing the table, chair, and Ruby to pop into the air a few inches. Not even notice the disturbance, Ruby continued to staring at the table sadly.

Yang dusted off her hands and stood next to Ruby, "So, have you picked out a dress yet?"

Ruby turned her head towards us, but kept laying on her arm, "What's the point, who cares about the dance if Blake isn't going?"

Yang smirked, unperturbed by Ruby's reply, "Oh don't worry, she's going." She then looked to her left over my shoulder and scowled, "WEISS! I thought we agreed, no doilies!"

Weiss marched over and stuck her finger in Yang's face, "If I don't get doilies, you don't get fog machines!"

Yang looked like she was about to start yelling at Weiss, but the sound of the main door opening and closing drew all our attention. Turning, we saw Sun and Neptune walking towards us, the latter who was smiling, "Your dance is going to have fog machines?"

Completely changing her tune, Weiss quickly walked over to Neptune while holding her hands in front of her, "We were thinking about it."

Neptune nodded his head, "That's pretty cool."

Sun stepped forward, pointed both his fingers at us, "You ladies, plus one all excited for dress up?"

Ruby scoffed, "Yeah right!"

Yang smirked as she pulled me towards her and pressed her chest against me, "Laugh all you want, but I'll be grabbing someone's attention tomorrow night."

"I will beat the crap out of anyone that tries hitting on you. After you blow them across the room of course" I said completely serious, but with a mischievous glint in my eyes.

Yang's smile went from smirk to full blown grin as she hugged my arm tightly, "This is going to be an awesome dance!"

Weiss shook her head before turning back towards Sun and Neptune, "What will you two be wearing?"

Sun glanced confusingly at Neptune before gesturing at his current outfit, "Uhh, this." He said, like it was obvious.

Neptune was very quick to step in front of Sun, "Ignore him, for he knows not what he says."

Sun pushed Neptune's arm away, "Hey, I may of moved to Mistral, but I grew up in Vacuo. It's not exactly a shirt and tie kind of place."

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang just stood there with an eyebrow raised, "Yeah, we noticed."

I thought for a second before asking Sun something that had been bothering me, "Do you even have a shirt that doesn't show your chest?"

Sun grinned as Neptune shook his head mournfully, "No he doesn't, and it's absolutely abhorrent." He then turned to Sun, "Seriously, how do you expect to get Blake if you don't even have a different outfit to take her out in?"

As Neptune mentioned Blake, Sun rubbed the back of his head awkwardly as he turned back to us, "Soooooo uh, what does Blake think of all this? She still be all, you know…Blakey?"

I sighed, "Unfortunately she is. We've tried thinking of ways to change her mind, but everything we tried didn't work."

Ruby sunk lower into the table, "I can't think of any more ways to convince her to go."

Yang just smiled as she pulled me along with her towards the main building, "Guys, trust me. Blake will be at the dance tomorrow."

As Yang pulled me towards the classrooms she finally started telling me her plan, "We just need to talk to her seriously. Everything we've tried so far has been half serious, half joke."

I was finally able to stop stumbling along and walked next to her, "Okay, I'll go make sure the classroom is clear, but how are you going to lure her away? She's been glued to the library every free moment she's had."

Yang just grinned widely as she walked away, twirling a laser pointer on her finger, "Don't worry, I'll think of something."

I watched her practically skip away, excited to get her plan underway. Chuckling at her idea of a joke, I turned and went my own way to fulfill my part of the scheme. Arriving at Port's classroom, I found it empty and dimly lit by the setting sun. I made my way in and sat down on the desk in the front of the room, waiting for Yang to get her with Blake.

Not having to wait long, I heard Blake complaining from down the hall, "Yang, where are you taking me? I have important work to do!"

Yang calmly pulled her along, "Not to much further kitty cat." I heard them stop in front of the door, "~Here we are~" she sang.

Practically kicking the door open, Yang walked in, pulling a struggling Blake in behind her. Upon seeing me sitting at the bottom of the stairs, Blake stopped struggling and glared, "What's going on?"

I sighed, "We just want to talk to you about the dance Blake."

Her glare intensified, "I already told all of you several times I don't have time for that stupid, useless dance!" She pointed out the window, "I'm going to stop the Fang whether you guys help or not. So if you two are going to tell me to stop then you may as well save your breath."

Yang shook her head and patted the desk she'd taken a seat on, "We don't want you to stop, we want you to slow down."

Blake stopped pacing and looked at us out of the corner of her eye, "We don't, have the luxury, to slow down."

Yang just sat there calmly, "It's not a luxury, it's a necessity."

Blake turned angrily towards Yang, "The necessity is stopping Torchwick."

"And we're going to," Yang patted the desk as I sat down to her back left, "but first you need to sit down and listen to what we have to say."

Blake glared with extremely tired eyes in our direction, "I'm fine, I'm functioning at one hundred percent!"

Yang and I glanced at each-other with raised eyebrows before I spoke up, "Blake…we're over here, that's a lamp and curtain."

Blake continued to glare at the objects to our left before slowly turning to sit down on the desk extremely annoyed, "Fine."

Yang leaned against me as she began, "Ruby and I grew up in Patch, an island just off the coast of Vale. Our parents were Huntsmen, dad taught at Signal, and our mom would take on missions all around the kingdom." Yang's eyes softened as she began talking about her mom, "Her name was Summer Rose, and she was like, supermom. Baker of cookies and slayer of giant monsters." Yang started to tear up a bit, "And then, one day she left for a mission and never come back." I put an arm around her waist and gave her a hug to comfort her as she continued, "It was tough, Ruby was really torn up but, I think she was still too young to understand what was going on ya know." Yang sighed, "And my dad just kinda, shut down, and it wasn't long before I learned why." She looked down at the desk, "Summer wasn't the first love he'd lost, she was the second." Yang looked back up at Blake, "The first, was my mom." Blake's eyes shot open in surprise as Yang pushed on, "He wouldn't tell me everything, but I learned that the two of them had been on a same team together with Summer and Qrow, and that she left me with him not to long after I was born. No one has seen her since."

Blake didn't speak for a second but quickly asked the question that was foremost in her mind, "Why did she leave you?"

Yang sighed bitterly as she stood up to face the board, "That question, why, I didn't know the answer, but I was determined to find out. It was all I thought about. I would ask anyone I could what they knew about her. Then, one day I found something." She began drawing something on the board, "Something I thought was a clue that would lead me to answers, or maybe even my mother. I waited until dad left the house, put Ruby in a wagon, and headed out." Yang laughed slightly, "I must of walked for hours. I had cuts and bruises, and was totally exhausted, but I wasn't going to let anything stop me. When we finally got there, I could barely stand, but I didn't care, I had made it." Yang tried, but failed to suppress a shiver, "But then I saw them, those…BURNING red eyes that still give me nightmares to this day."

I got to my feet and leaned against the board as Yang threw her hands into the air angrily with her back still turned to Blake, "There we were, a toddler asleep in the back of a wagon and a stupid girl to exhausted to even call for help. We might as well of been served on a silver platter." Yang paused and sighed before continuing, "But as luck would have it, our uncle showed up just in time." Yang finished drawing Qrow's symbol on the board and leaned against the chalk rack, "My stubbornness should of gotten us killed that night," she said downcast.

As she said that, I immediately wanted to deny what she said. How could she still even think that she deserved to die only for wanting to find her mother, but I held my tongue and let her handle the situation. As if hearing my thoughts, Yang glanced at me and smiling weakly as Blake stood up while looking at the ground, "Yang, I'm sorry that happened to you, and I-I understand what you're trying to tell me, but this is different." Blake's voice got a little louder, as if she were trying to convince herself, "I'm not a child, and this isn't just a search for answers I can't just-"

As Blake started speaking faster and louder, Yang kept her back to her as she forcefully shut her eyes, but I didn't need to see the redness in them to know she was upset, "I told you, I'm not telling you to stop! Neither Davian or I haven't. To this day, I still want to know what happened to my mother and why she left me, but I will never let that search control me. We're going to find the answer we're looking for Blake, but if we destroy ourselves in the process then what good are we?"

Blake clenched her teeth as Yang spoke but yelled out, "You don't understand, I'm the only one who can do this!"

Yang snapped as she pushed away from the board and I and spun towards Blake with crimson eyes, "NO, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! IF ROMAN TORCHWICK WALKED THROUGH THAT DOOR RIGHT NOW WHAT WOULD YOU DO?!"

Blake clenched her fists, "I'd fight him!"

Yang growled and gave Blake a light push that sent her reeling against the desk, "You'd lose!"

Blake righted herself and weakly pushed Yang back with one arm, ""I can stop him!"

Yang pushed Blake a bit harder, causing her to completely fall onto the desk, "You can't even stop me!" Blake got back to her feet and looked up as Yang walked forward. Closing her eyes, thinking Yang was going to hit her, Blake tensed up. But as she felt warmth envelope her, she opened her eyes shocked to find Yang hugging her tightly, "I'm not asking you to stop, just please, get some rest." She pulled away to look Blake in the eyes, "Not just for you, but for the people you care about."

With that, Yang silently walked out of the room. After a few seconds, Blake took a deep breath and sniffed. Remembering I was there, she looked down at the floor in shame, "Are you upset at me to?"

I didn't reply at first but I gave her a one-armed hug as I led her towards the door, "No, you should know I could never get mad at you for something like this." I sighed sadly, "I know you don't think of me as the big brother who protected you from bullies when we were kids anymore, but I still think of you as my little sister whether you like it or not." She looked up at me with teary eyes as she realized what I said was true. She been acting, and thinking like I was just someone she had met this year. Not someone who had stood by her, and protected her from the all the prejudice and racism that had darkened her life into nothing more than a black void.

Blake hugged me back as a few tears streamed down her face, "I'm sorry."

I pulled away as we reached the door, not answering, but she knew I didn't blame her. As I opened the door and led her towards the dorms I replied, "You don't have to be sorry. Even though it wasn't my choice, I wasn't there when things took a turn for the worse." I then glanced at my scroll as I led her into the dorm, "It's seven thirty, why don't you go to bed and sleep through the night so you'll be well rested for the dance tomorrow."

Blake paused as I mentioned the dance, "I turned down Sun, didn't I?"

I pursed my lips, "Yeah, you did." She looked at the door, now feeling even more ashamed. I patted her shoulder as she froze, "Don't worry about it. He'll still be going, and I bet if you surprise him on the way it'll make his night."

Blake thought for a second before nodding her head and bidding me goodnight. After the door closed, I turned around and began walking back towards the ballroom to help finish up for the night. As I reached the door the the ballroom, I saw Yang leaning against the door with her arms crossed.

When she saw me, she smiled softly before kissing me deeply. We stood there for what must of been three minutes before we pulled away. After I caught my breath I raised an eyebrow and hmmed, "Whatever that was for, I should do it more often."

Yang chuckled, "That's for helping me talk with Blake."

I shrugged dismissively, "I hardly said a thing, you could of done it even if I wasn't there."

Yang shook her head, "You didn't have to say anything. You know talking about my mother has always been hard for me, but having you there help more than you will ever realize."

I smiled, "I'll be there to help you whenever you need me, no matter what."

Yang's smile grew into a small grin as she hugged me, "That's so cheesy, but I don't care."

I rested my head on top of hers and ran my fingers through her hair. We stood her for several more minutes until we heard a muffled squeal come from behind us. Both Yang and I turned around and found Ruby poking her head through the curtains from the ballroom window with a huge smile on her face as she spied on us. As soon as we turned around, she quickly pulled pack with a squeak, hoping she hadn't been seen.

Yang glanced at me, blushing a bit before pulling me towards the building and pushing the door. Walking in, we saw Sun, Neptune, and Weiss putting the final touches to the decorations while Ruby hid behind them. Walking up, Yang sang, "~I hope you're taking notes for when you meet the lucky someone Rubes~"

Ruby went red and pulled her hood up from embarrassment, "EW YANG GROSS! I DON'T EVEN LIKE BOYS YET!"

Yang smirked as she slung an arm over my shoulder, "Key word is yet Rubes, but don't worry. If a someone takes an interest in you, they'll have to pass me and Davian's test if they want to date you."

I nodded my head and smiled, "Yeah, it's not going to be easy and Oum have mercy on the poor boy or girl that comes a-callen." Ruby, somehow, went redder than she already was and tried to pull her hood even lower as we all laughed at her embarrassment. After a few minutes, we all caught our breath and set back to putting the finishing touches on the ballroom. Finishing in less than an hour, we all said goodbye and went back to our dorms.

On our way back, Yang and Ruby began talking about what they were going to wear to the dance tomorrow. "Do I have to wear those stupid stilts and dress tomorrow Yang? They're SOOOOOOOO uncomfortable," Ruby complained."

Yang shrugged while looking sympathetic, "It's the price we women pay to look good." She than pulled my arm around her hip without breaking eye-contact with Ruby, "But it's worth it in the end," she then looked at me and grinned mischievously with a hint of seductiveness, "especially when someone tears them off of you later that night."

I stumbled over my own two feet, not prepared for Yang to take it there. I stopped myself from face-planting, but it was red anyways from my brain going to…certain places without my consent. Ruby stopped walking and stomped her foot, "YANG STOP IT, THAT'S GROSS! I don't want to think about what you and Davin might be doing when you're alone!"

Yang cackled evilly as she watched Ruby and I try to compose myself. I eventually got by heart to slow down to a safe rate, "By Oum Yang, you gotta give me a little warning before saying something like that to prepare myself!"

Ruby had pulled her hood over her head and pressed her hands against her ears, "LALALALALALALA I can't hear you!"

Yang was crying, she was laughing so hard as I flicked Ruby's forehead to get her attention. She hesitantly took one hand on an ear as listened to me, "Ruby, Yang and I haven't done anything like that. She's just screwing with you and I." By now Yang was on the floor holding her stomach from laughing to hard. Ruby just huffed and stomped off to their dorm, completely fed up with her sister's antics. A minute or two later, Yang was able to catch her breath and I helped her to her feet and began walking again, "You're lucky Ruby and I are somewhat used to this by now."

Yang giggled as she opened the door to her dorm and invited me in, "Eh, ya love m-OOOMMMFF!"

Yang got a face full of pillow going at mach speed as Ruby yelled at her, "YANG THAT WAS MEAN, I DON'T NEED TO THINK ABOUT THAT!"

Yang propped herself up onto her elbows from where she landed on her back, "Oh come on Rubes, it was funny."

Weiss had her face in her hand, "I hardly call that a joke you brute, it was completely inappropriate."

Yang just crossed her arms and huffed, "Everyone's a critic." She then tilted her head back to look at me leaning on the door frame, "What are you going to be wearing?"

I shook my head, "You aren't telling me what you're wearing, so why should I?"

Yang got to her feet and wrapped her arms around my neck while pouting, "Please."

I chuckled, "That face always gets me." Her pout disappeared, "Fine I'm not wearing anything really fancy, but still nice."

She pouted again, "That doesn't tell me anything."

I shrugged, "You know I'm not one for full suits or tuxedos, that should narrow it down quite a bit for you."

Yang huffed, "Fine, but you better make up for not telling me tomorrow night."

I nodded my head before glancing at my scroll to find it a few minutes from curfew, "I'm going to go to bed, I'll see you all tomorrow." Yang kissed me goodnight before I slipped into my room and got ready for bed, looking forward to tomorrow night.

-][-

The following day went by quickly. Decorations were complete, food ready to cooked or set out, music systems in place, and a crowd of people eagerly waiting for the sun to set. As the time neared, I found myself in front of my bathroom mirror. Black dress shoes, black dress pants and a black long sleeve button up with a gray vest all in place. The sleeves were rolled up to my elbows and I was wearing a dark blue and gray tie. To finish it off, I flipped on a black fedora that had a dark blue and gray band around the base. Fixing my collar, I gave myself one last look over before walking out of my dorm and locking the door.

As I made my towards the ballroom, I saw Ruby walking ahead of me in a pretty crimson dress. Well, I guess walking wasn't the right word, how about stumbling? Yeah, that worked. As I drew nearer, I heard her mumbling under her breath, "Stupid shoes, stupid dress, stupid makeup." She just repeated that over and over again like a mantra.

As she about face-planted, I grabbed her arm and pulled her back to her feet, "As graceful as you are when we fight, I'm surprised that you're taken down by an outfit."

Ruby stomped her foot and almost fell over again, "It's not funny Davian!"

I chuckled, "Whatever you say Rubes."

She pouted adorably until she noticed my attire, "You look nice."

I nodded my head in thanks, "You look very pretty as well."

She grumbled, "I don't like it. Weiss wouldn't even let me wear my cloak."

I chuckled as I opened the door, "Did you really think Weiss Schnee, of all people woul-" I had frozen in place with only one thought running through my head, "She's beautiful." Yang stood in front of me wearing a stunning floor length golden dress that had two straps that wrapped around her chest before snaking around her neck. The entire thing sparkled as she moved and had a slit down the side for her leg. Her hair was tied together by a dark orange bow I had bought for her and was pulled over her left shoulder. Ruby walked in front of me, hoping to get to something else to steady herself. As Yang saw her she squealed and jumped in place, "Ohhhhh you look beautiful!"

Ruby grumbled as she tried to stay on her feet, "Can we have a serious talk about how Weiss fights in these?!" Her eyes went wide as she almost fell on her face again but was able to stumble forward a bit to catch herself, much to Yang's amusement. She helped Ruby to the wall so she could slowly make her way wherever she wanted to.

She then turned back to me who hadn't moved from the door, still frozen in place. She walked up to me smirking and put her hand on her hip, "How do I look?"

"You-you look-" I mentally slapped myself and took a deep breath, "You look absolutely gorgeous."

She looked at the floor bashfully and blushed a bit, "You look very nice yourself."

I smiled as I offered her my hand, "May I have this dance."

Yang giggled, "Again with the cheesy lines," she then reached out and grabbed my hand, "I'd love to."

I led her out to the dance floor and held her hand in mine as I had my other on her lower back. We slowly swayed back and forth as the song went on, the entire time we stared into each-others eyes. We didn't say a word the entire song. It was just her and me. No classes, no fighting, no secrets, no pain. Just us. As the song wound down the an end, we leaned forward and kissed.

As we were about to pull away, we were suddenly interrupted by an extremely loud, "WHOOOO, GET SOME YANG!"

Our head jerked apart and turned to find Nora hooting and hollering, Ruby jumping up and down clapping and squealing, and Weiss and Blake sitting down with Sun at a table smiling at us. Both Yang and I pursed our lips and blushed a bit, having forgotten we were in public. Yang and I just stood there as our friends continued to hoot and holler at us. Yang held her tongue between and her teeth before muttering, "I love them all to death but I hate them so much right now."

I chuckled as I got my blush under control and led her up the stairs to the balcony, "Wouldn't have it any other way."

Yang giggled in agreement as we watched the dance from above. After a few minutes, Yang saw Ruby walking up to us, "Ya know, I think we really needed this."

Ruby looked around at the decorations and everyone dancing, "Yeah, and you did a great job planning it to."

Yang grinned as she reached over and pulled Ruby into a tight one-armed hug by the neck, "Awww thanks, wasn't all me though, boys did a lot to."

I sighed, "Damn right we did, Weiss had me put up and take down those streamers at least ten times only for her to tell me to put the first set back up again."

Ruby stopped struggling as she saw Neptune awkwardly walk up to Weiss and say hi. She offered him a seat and she scooted a bit closer as they started talking. Yang sighed tiredly as she leaned her head on my shoulder, "Tomorrow it's back to work."

Ruby just shrugged, "Well, I'm sure we can handle whatever gets thrown at us."

As they were talking, I had been staring wide-eyed at a certain blonde that had been making his way towards the red headed spartan alone on edge of the dance floor, "I wouldn't say anything just yet Ruby. I get the feeling we're going to have to deal with more stuff like Jaune in a dress before our job is done."

Yang and Ruby jerked their heads towards the class doofus as he asked Pyrrha to dance. As they walked out to a space that was cleared for them, Nora jumped out of the crowd pulling a confused Ren behind her and took up their positions behind their teammates and danced. And when I say danced, I don't mean they just danced. I mean they owned the night with a dance that will be spoken of years down the road by future alumni.

I laughed, "Our friends are awesome."

Ruby covered her mouth, trying to stop the giggles from slipping out, but was unsuccessful while Yang just laughed along with me as she took her spot by my side, arms around each others waists while she rested her head on my shoulder. Over all, a night that I will remember for the rest of my life.

 **I don't know if that was fluffier or mushier than it should've been, but you guys gotta give it to me and to yourselves. After the soul-wrenching string of episodes in Season 3, we need really, REALLY needed some happy times.**

 **As for the author note hijacking, I'm drawing a blank, so please let me know if you have any ideas on how to keep the characters out of them.**

 **-Sign with writing lowers from ceiling behind me by Yang- "That's code for 'Do you guys like it and should he do it a bit more?'"**

 **IMPORTANT - I still haven't gotten any character bios for the OC villain we met last chapter. So send them in and I'll give them a look-over. Don't be shy, I won't be mean, I promise.**

 **Something that always bothered me about the dance in what Yang was wearing. While Weiss, Blake, and Ruby all had dresses that matched them, Yang's was just kinds…plain. So I decided to give her something that I thought she would wear.**

 **Well, feel free to leave to leave a review on how I'm doing and any chapter/scene ideas. With that, I'm done-**

 **Archangel Out….**


	16. Chapter 15 - First Mission

_**LOT'S OF IMPORTANT MESSAGES AT BOTTOM OF THIS CHAPTER!**_

 **We have reached chapter fifteen and it's a long one for ya. So now we begin the first mission of team RWBY.**

 **-][- =Line/Scene Break**

 **With that out of the way, let's get going….**

 _I don't even know how much time has passed now. My desolate cell held nothing resembling comforts. Cold, gray concrete wall to wall with one single steel door with two small slides to allow my guards to look in and for them to slide in my meager daily portion of "food". I'm shackled to the center of the floor by a metal collar on a short chain that only allows me to move a foot in any direction on my knees. I'll spend every hour of my isolation curled up in a ball on the floor, hoping for sleep to give me an escape. I feel my eyes drooping, making the pain pulsing through my body that was a constant reminder of my imprisonment, nothing more than a dull ache. I sighed deeply as my eyes closed, taking comfort in- "SHRIIIIEEEEK!"_

 _I clutched my head in agony as the cry of a banshee resounded so loud in my concrete cage that it felt like someone was driving a stake through my skull. After thirty seconds, the deafening sound ceased, giving me respite from the throbbing pain. I felt burning coming from my arm and tasted copper in my mouth. Clearing my fogged mind to the best of my ability, I found I had bitten down on my forearm to stop the howl of pain from erupting from my throat._

 _I curled back up into a ball and clutched my bloodied arm to my chest, trying to ebb the pain. I was trying my damndest to stay strong, but it all was catching up to me. They forced me to go a week without sleep only for them to allow me one day of rest. They brought me a meal once a day consisting of slop even pigs would turn their snouts up to, but I'd eat it one way or another. Either I ate it myself, or they forced it down my throat and received thirty lashes with a whip for "Not being fucking grateful!" It all just hurt so much. So I did the only thing I was allowed to do...I wept._

-][-

I slowly opened my eyes at the sound of the door connecting RWBY's dorm to mine being beat down. A few seconds later, I felt someone furiously shake my limp form where it lay on the floor. "-avian? Davian?!" Why did everything sound far away? My vision was tunneled and my ears were ringing.

I felt a sharp jab in my side, forcing a sharp intake of breath, flooding my body with the oxygen it had been lacking. My vision unnarrowed and transformed from a concrete room to Yang's anxious face as she held me head in her lap staring down wide-eyed as the others looked anxiously over her shoulder.

I tried to sit up, but Yang held me in place, "Davian, what's wrong?"

I tried waving her off, "Just a bad dream, can't do anything about it. I'm fine," I tacked on at the end, trying to lessen their worries.

I could immediately tell she didn't buy it as she looked at the others and nodded back at their dorm but stayed were she was. Once the others had left and closed the door (Or what was left of it) Yang turned back towards me and spoke softly, "What happened?"

I sighed deeply, "Nightmares are completely common for me Yang, but they rarely ever get that bad. I guess I'm just nervous due to first mission jitters or something.

As soon as I finished, I knew I should've worded that better. Her eyes narrowed, "You never told me you had nightmares that often."

I smiled weakly at her, "Can I re-say that?" She shook her head and continued glaring, "I thought so."

"How often do you have them?" She asked as she ran her fingers through hair.

I wiped my face, "You know my sleeping scheduled now, take a guess." I guess that came out harsher then I meant it to be. Yang's hand came to a stop as she looked to the side, clearly upset. I sighed as I nudged her face back towards me, "I'm sorry, that came out sharper than I meant. They're just not pleasant memories."

She smiled softly, "I know, just thinking that maybe you shou-"

Before she could finish her sentence, our door was pushed open and black and white blur shot into my room only to begin licking my face. I sputtered as I quickly sat up, wiping the slobber off my face. Turning back towards Yang, I found her giggling while Zwei licked her face, "When did Zwei get here?"

Yang dropped him as she wiped her face as well, "Dad sent him over while he's away from the island for a few days."

I stared at her, "He mailed him in that tube again didn't he." When she laughed and nodded her head, I got up and grabbed it out of RWBY's dorm. Turning it over in my hands, I looked over it from top to bottom muttering to myself, "How does he do it? It's just a normal tube, it shouldn't be able to hold that much stuff."

While I was doing my research, Ruby tapped my shoulder, "We need to go to the amphitheater to sign up for our first mission." I wordlessly walk into my bathroom with my uniform and quickly changing before walking out with the girls, mailing tube in hand as I continued to try to unravel its mysteries. By the time we arrived, I was completely stumped. We walked over to the Beacon section of the room and set our stuff against the wall. As the others walked over to grab a place to stand, I watched Ruby set down a backpack I had never seen her with before. Before walking away, I saw her reach in to pat something, prompting me to what it was. Ruby stood back up and turned around only to stop when she saw me standing there with my arms crossed and eyebrow raised. She folded her hands to her chest and gave me the puppy eyes, "Please."

I stared at her for a few seconds before I sighed and wiped my hand down my face, "Fine, if he's durable enough to survive a rough-housing child Yang, then I guess the Grimm's attacks will feel soft." Ruby smiled widely as we joined back up with the others for Ozpin's speech.

-][-

After the speech, everyone broke off with their teams and headed for the mission sign-ups, "What do you know, he actually can give encouraging speeches." Yang just grunted, still upset that I didn't tell her about my chronic nightmare problem. I sighed as I put a hand on her shoulder to stop her and nodded the others ahead. Once they were out of earshot I turned back to find Yang wasn't looking at me and had her arms crossed, "Yan-"

"You don't trust me," she said, still not looking at me.

I furrowed my brow, "What are you talking about, of course I do."

She turned her head back to look at me letting me see her eyes taking on a pink hue, showing her slight anger, "If you completely trusted me, then you wouldn't have to hide anything from me."

My shoulders sagged, "Yang, it's not that I don't trust you, it's nothing like that. This just isn't a problem I can spill everything all at once. I need time, and I just didn't think it was prudent because you wouldn't of been able to help me with something like that. I'm going to have those nightmares for the many many years, if not my entire life. It's just something I'm going to have to live with."

She scowled, "I don't care if you think think I couldn't help, I'm the only one that can answer that question, not you." She put a hand on her hip and pointed in my face with the other, "I'm going to let this go until after the mission, but afterwards you're WILL tell me everything whether you like it or not. Okay?"

I stare at her for a few seconds before nodding my head numbly. Accepting my answer, Yang and I walk over to join the rest of the team as Ruby started talking excitedly, "This is perfect, all we have to do is shadow a Huntsman working in the Southeast."

Yang pumped her fist excitedly, already making good on her promise to forget about our fight for now, "Yeah, we'll follow them around by day and give them the slip at night."

Weiss motioned towards the board, "Let's check search and destroy."

I raised an eyebrow, "Okay, two things. Once, why do we need to go to the Southeast? And two, if I didn't know the four the four of you, I never would've expected those words to come out of your mouth Weiss."

She huffed, "What's that supposed to mean?"

I pointed at her fancy clothes, "It means you don't look like the kind of Huntress who likes to destroy things. Rather one who'd rather be doing the paperwork."

Weiss just grumbled as Ruby pointed at the board, "Here we go. Quadrant Five needs Grimm cleared out."

Blake shrugged, "Well it's in the Southeast."

Yang nodded her head in agreement, "Sounds perfect."

Ruby reached up and selected the mission but received an error message saying that we weren't eligible for it. Weiss rolled her eyes, "Wonderful."

Blake sighed, "Any other ideas."

I held up the postal tube, smiling widely along with Ruby as she held her arms wide, "We mail ourselves there!"

"Well, that's one option," a voice said behind the screen. We all turned around and saw Ozpin walking out from behind the board with a tablet in his hand, "Unfortunately we determined the concentration of Grimm was to extreme for first year students." He then smirked as he continued, "It seems that particular region is rather popular." He then looked specifically at Ruby, "In fact I have the sneaking suspicion that the five of you will make your way there no matter what job you choose."

I raised an eyebrow again as Ruby rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, "Whatever makes you say that?"

Ozpin shrugged, "I'm still curious as to how you five of you found yourselves at the docks last semester. I'm interested to know how you really learned about a 'hideout' in the Southeast. And I certainly wonder why witnesses reported robots and rose-petals in a dance club some time ago."

Ruby started fidgeting, "Well-uh-ya seeee-"

Ozpin just smirked as he shrugged dismissively, "I doubt I'll ever find the exact answers I'm looking for. So how about this. Instead of waiting for you all to break the rules, why don't we just bend them," he finished leaning towards us a bit.

The girls smiled between each-other while I just frowned. It wasn't that I was worried that we couldn't take the Grimm, but the girls have seemed to have had left me out of the loop on their current plan once again. And that means they plan to fight the Fang, and that means people, not Grimm. And that's what worries me. Grimm are dumb and predictable as long as they're not ancient. But people are unpredictable, smarter, and much more skilled.

Apparently not thinking about any of those things, the girls turned back towards Ozpin eagerly. Ruby smiled brightly, "We won't let you down, thank you professor."

Ozpin's face hardened a bit, "Do not thank me for this. Teamwork and persistence have carried you far, but you must understand. The things that await you beyond the protection of the kingdom will not care. Stay close to your Huntsman at all times, and do exactly as he says. He will be leading you on this mission and he can have you sent back to Beacon if he finds your skills to be unsatisfactory." He started walking away but leaned back and gave a final piece of advice, "Good luck." As he passed by me he whispered, "The coffee machine was broken the morning you all arrived."

I "ahhed" as he walked away, leaving us to process the information. Silently, we all grabbed our gear and walked towards the Bullheads. When we were outside, Yang voiced what we all were thinking, "That wasn't exactly uplifting."

I shook my head, "No, but it shouldn't of been. He's giving a team of first years a mission that can barely be considered a second year mission. We needed to hear it."

Blake nodded, "It's the truth."

Ruby suddenly went from 'Adorable little sister' to 'Leader' right next to us, "I know it's going to be tough, but I know we can do it."

Right as she finished, some other Beacon student jogged past us pointing, "Hey, Team CFVY's back!"

We all turned and saw a exhausted Team CFVY walking away from the landing pads. Blake jogged to catch up with her fellow faunus and her team before they got too far, "Velvet, are you okay?"

The rabbit faunus smiled when she saw us and nodded before motioned at her partner, "I'm fine, I had Yatsuhashi to look out for me."

Weiss looked at their torn, dirty clothes and exhausted eyes, "Your mission was supposed to end a week ago, what happened?"

Velvet just slumped where she stood, "Nothing happened, it was just, their were just so many." She shook her head and looked back up at us smiling softly, "Oh but don't worry. You first years are just shadowing Huntsman so you should be fine."

Yang slowly nodded her head, "Rrrriiiiight…."

I sighed, "You really shouldn't say 'should be fine' Velv. With with the amount of trouble these four girls attract you'll just end up jinxing us."

She shrugged apologetically, "I should go, be safe okay." With that she waved goodbye and ran to catch up with her team.

We all looked between ourselves while I suddenly didn't feel so confident in my 'we should worry about people over Grimm' theory. Ruby shook her head defiantly, "We can do this. We've never backed down before and we're not going to start now." We all nodded our heads before Ruby smiled a little, "Besides, it won't only be us out there. We'll be fighting alongside a genuine Huntsman!" She finished excitedly. Oh if only they knew what we were in for.

-][-

The four of them just stood there in horror as they saw who we were going to be shadowing, "Why hello students. Who's ready to fight for their lives?!" Professor... Bartholomew...freaken...Oobleck. This. Is. Going. To. Be. Awesome.

-][-

Needlessly to say, it was pretty humorous to watch the girls try to process the fact that we were stuck with a teacher that sucked more coffee than Ozpin and so hyperactive that he could give Ruby or Nora a run for their money. "Professor Oobleck?" Weiss asked, as if she hoped she was seeing things.

The professor started pacing in front of us like a military officer, "Yes, I'm afraid those bags won't be necessary girls, and Mr. Kadar. Seeing as you've opted to shadow a now what is essentially a reconnaissance mission - zip - I can assure you we will not be establishing a single base of operations, rather we will be traversing - zip - several miles of hazardous wasteland and making camp at any defendable locations we should happen to stumble upon I pack all our essentials - zip - myself, plotted the air course, and readied the airship AND," he got right up in Weiss' face, "it's DOCTOR Oobleck. I didn't earn the PhD for fun thank-you very much!"

Weiss and Blake just glanced at each other, "Uhhhhh-"

Oobleck pointed up into the air, "Come now children! According to my schedule we are already three minutes behind…schedule!" With that he disappeared with a speed that could rival Ruby and reappeared by the Bullhead.

We all just stared at the ship, wondering how he could say on that with so few breaths. Ruby tried to salvage the situation buuuuuut, "Well all right then! Looks like we're going to save the world with Doctor Oobleck-okay yeah when you say it out loud it sounds worse." It wasn't very successful.

"Save the world!" We heard a familiar ball of ADHD yell from behind us. JNPR walked up and joined us while Nora continued ranting, "You're going on world saving mission without us! I'm hurt, sad, maybe a little hungry. That last one's not your fault though. Reeeeen!"

The subject of her attention just crossed his arms and looked away. Jaune chuckled, "Sounds exciting, where ya goen?"

Ruby shrugged, "Oh, just outside the kingdom."

Nora jumped with joy, "Hey so are we!"

Pyrrha shook her head smiling, "Ren and Nora wanted to shadow a sheriff from a nearby village."

Ren nodded, "We set out tomorrow."

Suddenly Sun and Neptune popped up out of nowhere, "Then you can party with us tonight. We're shadowing a crime specialist, all inner city detective stuff." He leaned in a bit, "We get junior badges."

Jaune had a fangirl moment, and I swear I saw and heard sparkly stars all around him. Sun shrugged, "We normally go to the city with you guys, whiiiiich means stuff is always exploding and junk." He then turned and looked at RWBY specifically, "So we thought this might be a better way to check out the kingdom when it's, you know, no offense to you guys but, normal."

I shrugged before pointing at the girls, "None taken, if these four could find less trouble, then I'd be able to rest A LOT easier."

Yang punched my arm, "Oh come on, do you know how boring last semester would of been if we hadn't of done any of that stuff."

I just looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Do you remember how much property damage we caused and how much detention we got?"

Yang pursed her lips for a second, "Touché."

By know Ruby was bouncing from one foot to the other, wanting to get our first mission underway, "Well wis-"

"FOUR MINUTES LADIES, and Mr. Kadar!" Oobleck yelled over from the airship, causing us all to cringe a bit.

Putting on a strained smile, Ruby tried to sound enthusiastic, "Well uh, wish us luck."

With that we all parted ways and we made our way to the Bullhead. Once we were on board, the ship took off quickly, forcing us all to grab onto the nearest support. I stood by the door with Weiss across from me while Yang opted to use me as her lifeline. After a few minutes Yang spoke up, "I guess I just never saw you as much of a fighter."

Oobleck fixed his glasses a bit, "I admit I fancy myself more of an…intellectual, but I assure you, as a Huntsman, I've had my fair share of tussles."

Ruby scratched her head in confusion, "Like the mushrooms?"

"Those are truffles." Blake said.

"Like the sprout?" Ruby asked even more confused.

Yang leaned over, "Those are brussels."

"Wha? Like the…sea food?" She asked again, completely befuddled.

I laughed, "Those are mussels Rubes."

Oobleck continued in spite of Ruby's complete and utter confusion, "Besides, given my area of expertise in the field of history as well as my dabblings in the archaeological surveys our dear headmaster saw it fit to assign me to this particular…assignment."

Now Weiss looked half as confused as Ruby, "What does history have to do with this?"

Oobleck's head snapped in her direction with wide eyes, as if she'd just admitted to advocate dog fighting, "Why what a preposterous question you silly girl! Why history is the very backbone of our very society," Oobleck was just getting closer and closer to Weiss, "and the liver! And probably the kidneys if I were to wager."

Weiss took a small step forward because Oobleck had almost forced her out of the ship, "And that means…?

Oobleck suddenly turned back towards her pointed a finger in the air, "The Southeast quadrant outside of Vale is home to wild forest and deep caves, but it is also the location of one of the kingdom's greatest failures."

"Mountain Glenn." Ruby said, showing that she's been paying at least somewhat attention in class.

"Oh that's right," Yang said now remembering, "it was an expansion of Vale. But in the end it was overrun by Grimm and fenced off from the rest of the city."

Oobleck nodded his head, happy his students were paying attention, "Correct, and now it stands abandoned as a dark reminder."

Blake had been in deep thought ever since we began talking, "And a likely place for a hideout."

Oobleck fixed his glasses again and grinned creepily, "Precisely!" As Mountain Glenn came into view, Oobleck turned to me, "Mr. Kadar, I want you to drop to the ground and be our forward reconnaissance! Do not engage with the Grimm unless absolutely necessary, but do alert us to any you come across so we can clear the area!"

I nodded my head and untangled myself from Yang who was hugging me tightly. As I stepped away from her she yelled over the sound the the wind, "Are you sure it's a good idea for him to go alone profes-" he slightly glared at her, "uh, I mean doctor Oobleck?"

I waved her off before Oobleck could respond, "Don't worry about me Yang, I won't be engaging the Grimm, just spotting them for you." With that I turned to face them from the edge of the ship, gave them a two fingered salute, and fell backwards. The last thing I heard before getting out of earshot was Yang yelling humorously, "YOU COCKY BASTARD!"

-][-

"This is a lot harder than I thought it would be." I thought to myself. We've spent the past several hours clearing a large area of the quadrant of Grimm. And while the girls were soldiering on, they didn't have the stamina Oobleck or I had. I could see them starting to tiring. Heaving chests, red faces, less fancy moves and more simple attacks. Finally I heard Oobleck talk through my earpiece I'd been given at the start of the mission, "Mr. Kadar, you can make your way back to us and help us clear this last group."

I put a finger to my ear, "Acknowledged."

I looked out from where I was currently hiding on top of one of the multi-story buildings lining the streets, my new combat outfit perfectly blending with the shadows and dirt of the city. Listening for anything that could lead me to my team, I was rewarded after a few seconds when I heard the familiar sounds of Crescent Rose and Ember Celica blasting away. Pulling my new bow off my back, I selected one of the many types of arrows that filled my quiver. Pulling it out, I notched it and pulled the string back while taking aim at a lower building across the street from me. Letting the arrow fly, it shot across the hundred foot expanse and thudded into an empty water tower leaving a rope in its wake. Pulling the rope taunt from my side and tieing it off securely, I zip-lined across and landed in a role on the other side. Looking over the edge of the building, I saw Yang and the others amongst a pack of dissipating Beowulf corpse.

As I began making my way down, I heard Yang sigh, "Hey doc ya know, I was actually looking forward to seeing a pro Huntsman in action. Like fighting or at least helping us fight!"

I landed in a crouch silently behind them as Oobleck turned his head from where he was walking, "Ah but I am in action, scouring the ruins of this once great city for any signs of irregularity." He then turned back to us and became serious, "Not every mission is filled with daring and heroism girls, and Mr. Kadar," the others quickly turned around, now just realizing I had been behind them, "sometimes it's just a heightened form of extermination. Remember this is a job, and you all signed up for it, I do hope you understand that."

Yang just looked annoyed beyond all hell, "Well ye-yeah…of course!"

Oobleck stopped to think, "Hmmm, very well." With that, we all began moving towards the center of town now that the perimeter had been cleared. When we had moved several blocks without incident, Oobleck fell back to where I was watching our six. "Tell me Mr. Kadar, why do you want to become a Huntsman? After everything you've been through, surely you of all people deserve to take it easy."

I sighed, "I've been told that many times, but I don't care." I then shrugged while still watching our backs, "Do you want to noble answer, or the honest one?"

He fixed his glasses, "I'd like to hear both if it pleases you."

Still not turning towards him, I pointed at the skeletal remains trapped under a collapsed wall, "The noble answer will be to stop anything like that from happening again. But that's the answer almost any Huntsman in training will give you."

He pondered that for a second, "And what's the honest answer?"

I jerked my head in the direction of Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang, "I'll do damn near anything to keep those four safe. At first it was only Ruby and Yang, but now I care for Weiss to and remembered that Blake is practically my little sister. But the problem is that there are people who will use them against me." I glanced at Oobleck out of the corner of my eye, "I'm a cold, calculating bastard professor. If someone doesn't deserve mercy, then I won't be the one giving it to them."

Oobleck took a sip from his thermos, "Just because you don't socialize with anyone outside your group of friends doesn't make you cold Mr. Kadar."

I shook my head, "It's not that. As a faunus, you learn to stay away from people you don't know and stick close to the ones you do. What I'm talking about is what I'm willing to do, and have done to keep them safe."

Oobleck tilted his head to the side, "Are you talking about killing Mr. Kadar?"

I chuckled silently a bit, "We're training to become Huntsmen and Huntresses Doctor. Something that new students never think of is that we won't always be hunting beasts. From my experience, the Grimm aren't the monsters they're made out to be. It's people that are the demons, I know that damn well." Oobleck didn't answer, and after a minute or two, he made his way back up to the front of the group. Though unknown to both of us, a certain cat faunus had heard every word of the conversation, and she started to wonder what I had done. Eventually we arrived in the center plaza and were met by several dozen Grimm all to happy to try to gut us. I signed as I rolled my neck, cracking the joints, "Time get to work." I glanced back at my exhausted team, "Watch each-others backs, you four are too weak to go off on your own." Normally Yang and Weiss would of taken offense to that, but like I had said, they were exhausted. Getting a tired nod in response, Ruby and Yang went to the right while Blake and Weiss went left.

Oobleck stepped back and leaned against the wall, "Why don't you show me what you can do Mr. Kadar, I haven't the opportunity yet."

I nodded my head as I drew my blade from its sheath, "Keep an eye on the girls for me will you." With that I charged the center of the plaza that had less Grimm than the flanks, but they were bigger. Beowulf's and Creep's charged first with Ursa bringing up the rear. The first Beowulf took a leaping slash at me, but I slid under and gutted him from neck to abdomen, showering me with Grimm blood that started to dissipate into black smoke almost immediately. As a Creeper charged, a pair of Beowulf's tried to flank me. I sheathed my sword and pulled it off make back, transforming it into its double bladed form. The Creep roared before lowering its head and charging with the Beowulf's coming from my left and right. Right before the Creep could spear me on its horn, I jumped over it and slashed both Beowulf's simultaneously in the throat. Landing behind the Creep, I quickly jumped forward and plunged my sword right where the bone left the base of the neck exposed, effectively severing the spine from the base of the head.

Yanking the sword out and giving it a flick, the blood running down the channel splattered to the broken concrete. Angered by the death of their fellows, the remaining Beowulf's and Creep's roared and charged me all at once. I put my sheath on my back and redrew my sword, preparing for the wave of Grimm to break upon it like water on rocks. And once we clashed, break they did. Limbs were severed, heads decapitated, and bodies cut in half. They didn't stand much of a chance. When the final Beowulf and Creep fell, I looked up and my eyes widened at the sight of the three Ursa majors on their hind legs surrounding me. Before I could even move, they roared as they threw their paws down right on top of me.

 **POV - Yang**

As Ruby and I killed the last Grimm on our side, I stood up straight and arched backwards to stretched me back, causing several loud pops to be heard from it. Ruby sucked in air, "I hop-I hope those are the last of them."

I cracked my neck, "We've made a complete circle of the area and now we've cleared the center, so we should be goo-"

"ROOOOAAAARRR!"

Everyone in the plaza turned to see three Ursa majors as big as the ones we saw in Forever Fall smashing their fists down onto Davian. It was as if time moved in slow motion. Davian slowly looking up in surprise while pulling his sword out of a dead Beowulf. The six paws with thirty razor sharp claws closing down on him. Davian dodged the first set of paws, but it put him off balance. He dodged the second, only scarcely, but was thrown into the air by the shock of the blow. But the third smashed into his chest and slammed him into the ground with a sickening crack.

The world came to a grinding halt. Ruby wide-eyed in shock. Blake's hand cocked back to throw Gambol Shroud in its Kusarigama form. Weiss rolling the chamber of Myrtenaster to shoot a torrent of dust. Oobleck had his back to us, fighting off some Grimm that had come up behind us. Before anyone of them could move an inch, my eyes went red, my hair became a blazing inferno, and a piercing scream reverberated off the tall buildings lining the plaza. I fired two rounds behind me to launch myself at the Ursa. My fist smashed into the head of the first Ursa, completely shattering its mask and killing it instantly. I quickly jumped to the side to dodge the swing of the second and fired a blast of concussive force into the open mouth of the third, effectively shedding its throat and forcing it to choke on its own blood. Before I could turn back around, I felt a massive concussive blow behind me that threw me forward. I landed on my stomach, striking my forehead on a brick. Rolling onto my back, I glared at the Ursa through a haze. Before it could pierce its claws through me, a dark figure lept onto its back and drove a blade into its neck. Giving a wept roar, the Ursa tried to shake off the uninvited person riding on its back (Elsewhere, Nora sneezed in the middle of eating, spraying her food all over Ren). Hanging on, the figure pulled its sword out and quickly drew its blade across the Ursa's throat. Leaping off, the figure landed in a heap on the ground. The Ursa gave a wet gurgle before collapsing to the ground, twitching a few times, and died.

I somehow made it to my feet and stumbled over to the figure who I now saw was Davian. His was on his knees with his sword stabbed into the ground allowing him to use it to rest his head on while breathing heavily, but wincing with each breath. By now, the others along with Oobleck came running up to us. Ruby and Weiss caught me as I about face-planted into the ground. Ruby started checking over me frantically, "Yang, how badly are you hurt?!"

I shook my head, "I'm fine Rubes, aura took the brunt of it."

I looked to my left where Oobleck and Blake had Davian on his back. The professor held three fingers in front of Davian's face, "How many fingers do you see Mr. Kadar?"

He coughed painfully, "Few enough to know I don't have a concussion. Is Yang okay?"

I sat down next to his head, "I'm fine, are you sure you're not hurt badly?"

He waved me off, "Same as you. Aura took the hit."

I raised an eyebrow, "Oh really." I give his side a poke, causing him to breath in sharply. "It doesn't look like it did."

Oobleck had been looking at his scroll before looking back up confused, "Mr. Kadar, were you attacked while on reconnaissance?"

Davian turned towards the professor, "No sir. While there were a lot of them, it wasn't to difficult to sneak around."

He 'hmmed' before turning his scroll for all of us to see. On it was a picture of all of us with a bar underneath showing our aura levels, "Then care to explain how your aura is almost in the red?" We all glanced at the screen and found that while the we were tired, most of us still had at least half of their aura left while I had a bit more due to my larger stamina. But Davian's image showed a bar that was empty except for a little bit in the far left that showed a very dark orange. Oobleck closed his scroll and put it away, "In a tournament style match, that would still count as a loss, but you only took one hit."

Davian bit his inner cheek, "What can I say, that Ursa hit hard and I have at least two cracked ribs to prove it."

Oobleck shook his head, "While as tremendous as the hit was, even young Ruby's aura wouldn't of fell that far."

Davian shrugged, "Maybe my aura's just a little weak for some reason."

Oobleck just continued to stare intensely at Davian through his glasses before tossing his pack unexpectedly at me. I awkwardly caught the pack, but it hit me in the stomach causing me to 'oomph', "Ms. Belladonna, Schnee, Xiao-Long, take Mr. Kadar and set up camp in that building. Oh and do make sure there are no more of those…creatures." He then looked away from Davian and turned to face us, "Your leader and I are going to secure the perimeter, come Ruby."

Ruby stood up from where she'd been checking Davian over and ran off after Oobleck with a wave. I sighed before looking back down at my idiot of a boyfriend, "This makes it twice you've been snuck up on by the loudest Grimm. What kind of wolf lets three giant Ursa sneak up on him."

"Haha-owowowow, don't make me laugh Goldilocks," he wheezed out."

I raised an eyebrow while smiling, "Goldilocks? How long has it been since you called me that?"

He shrugged while trying to sit up, but was having trouble, "Thought I'd bring it back, it suits you."

I pursed my lips as I slung his arm over my shoulder, "Always kinda liked it coming from you, but I also like babe, and sweety, and sexy, and-"

"I never called you that last one...," he said smirking, "at least out loud."

I shrugged innocently, "Maybe I'm hinting at something?"

Davian chuckled as Weiss threw her hands into the air, "I swear Xiao-Long, you have absolutely no filter!"

Blake laughed as she stuck flint against her blade to get a fire going, "You should be used to this by now Weiss."

I set Davian down on a cot I'd set up and continued to watch the show as Weiss put her hands on her hips, "And what happened to my quiet, book loving teammate that would get just as annoyed by this stuff as me?"

Blake shrugged, "I'm her partner. I guess she's rubbing off on me bit."

Weiss sighed as she held her hand to her brow, "Unbelievable," she then pointed a finger in my face, "Do you see what you've done! You've ruined a perfectly good teammate," she threw her hand at Blake who was reading Ninja's of Love on her cot, "look at her, she gone perverted!"

I cackled evilly before petting Zwei like a evil cat, "Yessss my plan is going beautifully. First my partner has fallen to the perverted side and next is you Ice Queen."

Weiss stomped her foot in frustration, "For Oum's sake Yang stop being so crude! Davian, your her boyfriend, get her under control!" Silence met her question, "Davian?"

"Zzzzzzz" was her only reply.

I turned my head, just now realizing Davian had fallen asleep with his arm wrapped around my waist. I smiled softly as I ran my fingers through his hair. Reaching over, I grabbed my cot and fixed it right up next to Davian's and lay down. Weiss looked like she was about to blow a gasket, "You two aren't even married and you're already sleeping together!"

I smirked from where I was lying, "It's called romance Weiss, you and Neptune should give it a shot. And it's not like we're having sex, calm down snowcone."

Weiss just rubbed her temples while muttering to herself. Not after too long Oobleck came zooming in with Ruby behind him, "Ah wonderful, a textbook campfire!"

Ruby rushed closer and knelt down in front of it, "Fire! Soooooo waaaarrrm."

Oobleck pointed up into the air, "Very good, eat your dinners and hurry to bed." He then noticed Davian and I, "I trust you're just keeping him warm Ms. Xiao-Long."

I nodded my head innocently as I wrapped my arms around him, "Of course professor."

He nodded, "Quite. Anyways, we have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow and we'll need you to take turns keeping watch over our temporary abode. Any volunteers for first watch?"

Ruby held her hand up, "Yo!"

As she stood up to go take watch, I grabbed her arm as she passed, "Hey, did Oobleck ask why you wanted to be a Huntress? I mean…w-what did you tell him?"

Ruby thought for a second, "Hm…no he didn't. Weird. Oh well, goodnight guys."

After she walked away, we all quietly ate our meals and tried going to sleep. An hour slowly passed by, but I still couldn't sleep. Eventually I opened my eyes and tilted my head to look at my partner, "Blake, are you awake?"

"Yeah," she said, keeping her eyes closed.

"Why do you think he asked us about being a Huntress? Like, what was he trying to say?"

She opened her eyes and shrugged, "Maybe he was just curious."

I raised an eyebrow, "Ya think?"

I sighed, "No, I don't."

I puckered my lips and thought. Eventually tilting my head to look at the other girl in the room, "Weiss, are you awake?"

"Of course I awake, you two are talking." I cringed at her sharp reply.

We all sighed before Weiss started talking about how she wanted to change her family's reputation, but wasn't exactly sure how to go about it. Blake told us about how she always ran from her problems, even after I tried to tell her she didn't, but she just refuted it. And I told them that I never wanted to be a Huntress to help people, but because I just wanted the adventure. We all stayed silent for several minutes, thinking about our problems until Blake spoke up, "Hey Yang, how much has Davian told you?"

I furrowed my brow, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, how much has he told you about what happened to him or what he's been forced to do?" She clarified.

"He told me about how he got some of his scars, but he's pretty closed off about it, and that's understandable. But what do you mean 'what he's been forced to do'?"

Blake bit her bottom lip before glancing over my shoulder to make sure Davian was asleep, "Oobleck asked Davian why he wanted to be a Huntsman first, but his answer…concerns me."

I leaned up on my elbow, "What do you mean?"

Blake breathed deeply before continuing, "He practically said he doesn't want to help people, and he's not in it for the adventure like you. He said his only reason was to keep us safe, bu-"

"And what's so concerning about that?" Weiss interrupted.

I paused, "From what he said, it sounds like he-he's killed people to keep us safe, but I don't want to believe that." That shut us up. Weiss stared, wide-eyed at Blake while I just felt confused.

I twisted in place so I was laying down face to face with Davian. He slept peacefully, no signs of nightmares plaguing his mind. I reached out and put my hand on his cheek to run my finger over the scar I was the cause of many years ago. I shook my head, "I don't care."

Weiss' head snapped in my direction to only find my back to her and Blake, "How can you just say that Yang? Davian very well may of killed people in our name!"

I calmly stared at the man I love, "Davian would never hurt an innocent person, I know that. He didn't flat out say he killed someone, but if he did, he did it to keep us from harm." I ignored anything else Blake or Weiss said as I snuggled closer to Davian and closed my eyes, content to wait for him to be ready to tell us everything.

-][-

 **(POV Davian)**

"Arf!"

"Ugh Zwei, it's late, go back to beeed. ' _Yawwwn'_ Zwei? Zwei!" I slowly opened my eyes at the sound of feet running away from us.

Glancing around, I saw Yang's cot empty next to me. Looking over my shoulder, I saw her taking her turn at watch while Oobleck, Weiss, Blake, and Ru- "Ruby?" She was missing!

Yang's head snapped in my direction at my voice. She rushed over to me and began yelling at me quietly, "That's it! No more going off on your own, you always seem to get hurt!" I pushed her arm away and tried to get to my feet but hissed in pain as I felt my cracked ribs shift. Yang forcefully pushed me back down onto the bed, "What's so important?" I pointed at Ruby's empty cot. Yang's eyes went wide as she looked around in circles. I started to get to my feet again, but Yang pushed me back down, "You stay here, I'll go find her."

I pushed against her hand, "What was that about going alone? We should at least tell Oobleck."

I shook her head, "One, that only applies to you. Two, she might get in trouble. If she's not within sight of the door, then I will. But she may just be going to the bathroom."

I sighed, "Fine, but if you two are gone for more than three minutes, then I'm coming to find you!"

She nodded her head, "That's fair. See ya in a few."

I relented and lay back on the cot and waited. And waited. And waited. I glanced at my scroll and saw that three minutes had passed. Quickly grabbing my weapon, I began strapping it on. I may of been too noisy as I ended waking up Oobleck and the others, "Mr. Kadar, where are you going? You're wounds haven't healed yet."

Before I could reply, a frantic Zwei came running in and began barking wildly. Without gracing Oobleck with an answer, I took off sprinting, following the scent of chocolate, strawberries, and conditioner. I ran at top speed, ignoring the burning pain emanating from my chest. After a minute or two of sprinting, I turned a corner only to find something I never wanted to see. Crescent Rose and the orange bow I had bought Yang to keep her hair tied back while in combat were lying on the ground in front of a large hole in the ground. Even though I heard Oobleck and my remaining teammates yelling my name behind me, I ignored them as I jumped into the black void without a second thought. We know the White Fang are in the area but I'm not going to waste a second. If you're going to jump into hell, you cannot hesitate and you can not fear. For if you're the most horrifying thing down there, what's there to be afraid of?

 **IMPORTANT 1** **\- First thing I'd like to mention is that I goofed badly. In the beginning of my story when Davian was making his weapons and gear, I said he had made a bow with his sword and armor. Then, during the Christmas arc, I wrote it like he didn't have a bow until he got one from RWBY. I'd like to set the record straight by saying that Davian didn't have a bow at the beginning of the story and got it during Christmas.**

 **IMPORTANT 2** **\- This leads me up to my second important message. I'm going to be going back and revising earlier chapters. I won't be changing any plot points I have set, but I'll be cleaning up the grammar and any other mistakes I made. This means that the next chapter will have a delay. How long it'll be depends on how much I have to fix.**

 **IMPORTANT 3** **\- I AM SO SORRY! Since I'm new to this site, I didn't know how the polls worked. I didn't realize it was set to "Don't Show On Profile". I'll tell you guys that the poll is now open on my profile, so go cast your vote. (If you left your vote in the review section, I've already taken note of it, so you don't have to recast it).**

 **IMPORTANT 4** **\- Before I get going, I still would like you all to PM me any villain character bios (I still have none) and we're drawing near the point I need him/her. Please, I don't care what type of villain you send me. Insane, calculating, cold, chipper, I'll happily consider each one and how it'll effect the story later down the road. So don't be shy and give it a try, you never know, maybe you're a natural at making characters.**

 **Don't' forget about the now open poll and I'll see you guys next time…**

 **Archangel Out…..**


	17. Chapter 16 - The Demon Behind The Hunter

**WARNING** **\- I'm going to be making use of that M rating I set in this chapter for blood and gore with a slight mention of rape (Nothing happens, don't worry).**

 **I'm back after everyone and sorry for the wait. But like I said last chapter, I went back and revised chapter one through fifteen. If you want to go back and reread then feel free. I didn't change any plot points I made, just fixed grammar and the issue with Davian's bow. As for the wait, add the revising, writing chapter sixteen, and having down for awhile all up, then we get a delay. So again, I'm sorry. Anyway, let's get going with an extra long chapter…**

Falling several hundred feet can be a harrowing experience. That's if you're thinking clearly, and right now I'm definitely not. Right now I have one thing on my mind, one objective. And by Oum I wasn't going to let anything get in my way. After falling for several seconds, the darkness gave way to a dull light that allowed me to see what looked like a road only twenty feet away. Quickly curling into a ball, I teleported parallel to the concrete and rolled for several fee-"

"SHIT!" I yelled as my momentum carried me off what I now realized was a roof and not a road. I tried to turn around in midair again, but this time I wasn't fast enough and slammed into the side of a building that had partially collapsed. Rolling down it, I landed in a heap on top of a mound of debris and felt my weakened ribs groan from the fall as I came to a stop. I tried to take a deep breath but due to the pain in my chest I was only able to take short, shallow breaths. As the pain subsides slightly, I got to my feet shakily and took stock of my surroundings. All around me stood, and heavy emphasis on the stood, dozens upon dozens of multi-story buildings, enough to house several thousand people. And everyone of them was dark, destroyed, and empty.

As I was stood there, I suddenly began hearing the sounds of machinery and shouting. Pumping some aura into my chest to further ease the pain, I disappeared in a puff of mist and quickly made my way towards the sounds. After a few minutes, I drew nearer to the source of whatever was making the noises. Jumping across a gap between two buildings, I landed in a roll before crawling to the far edge of the roof. The sight that greeted me made curse under my breath.

A small army of White Fang soldiers rushed about loading and unloading crates from train-cars, several groups doing drills under an instructor, and a few select groups were tinkering with something I couldn't see from where I was hiding. Deciding to get a closer look, I backtracked and dropped down the gap I had jumped. Peering around the corner, I saw everyone busy with whatever their task was while the guards kept watch on the perimeter but not inside the camp. Right before I was going to make a dash for the nearest tent, a squad of soldiers ran past my hiding spot, heading for the main entrance to the camp.

As the group passed, two stragglers followed behind them talking to themselves. The first was a Fang member wearing glasses on the outside of his mask. He was talking to the faunus on his right who was a brute of a man, "What's going on lieutenant?"

The big man shrugged, "Something about a patrol finding two people out in the city."

I turned my full attention to the two as they stopped to talk not far from where was hiding. The smaller faunus raised a brow, "All this excitement for two people?"

The lieutenant chuckled darkly, "It wasn't a lost exploring couple or two civilians that was found Perry. Two Huntresses apparently fell through one of the old holes that was plugged to keep the Grimm in. And where there's two, there's more just hiding in the shadows."

The now named Perry scratched his head, "If that's the case then I can understand the cause for alarm." I didn't stay to listen any longer. They couldn't be talking about anyone other than Ruby and Yang. If I could intercept the patrol before they reached the camp, then I could grab the girls and run. Scaling the building again, I silently teleported from roof to roof, quickly making my way to the front of the camp.

Before I even got within sight of the entrance, I heard the cheering of dozens of White Fang members. I quickened my pace to as fast as my body allowed and beyond. Arriving at the building overlooking the cheering crowd, I fell to my knees and breathed so hard it felt like was blowing out lung tissue. Looking up, I felt fear grip my heart as I watched the patrol march through the front gate leading a terrified, blindfolded and gagged Ruby in front while the biggest of the patrol had an unconscious Yang slung over his shoulder like a conquering barbarian.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?" The crowd went silent when someone shouted above all the cheering (An impressive feat). I looked to my lower right and saw Torchwick quickly walking at the crowd looking none too pleased with the gathered faunus, "Well, is someone going to answer?"

Perry rubbed the back of his head, "The uh, southern patrol found two little girls."

Torchwick shook his cigar a bit to get the ash off, "Does one of them have an unhealthy obsession for red?"

Perry nervously glanced behind him at a the two captives, "Uuuuuuum, is that a bad thing?"

Torchwick puffed out some smoke as he pushed past Perry to get a better look at Ruby and Yang. He looked Ruby over before walking over to lift Yang's head to get a better look at her, "Definitely bad." He spun around and quickly walked back towards the train cars yelling over his shoulder, "Throw them in a cell until we get underway and be sure to keep an eye on those two," he suddenly stopped walking and turned to look up at me smirking, "oh and how about you take care of their little friend on the roof, I hear he's a deserter."

Every Faunus in the area shot their gaze up to where I was and hiding and due to their superior sight, saw me very quickly. Any with ranged weapons immediately raised their guns to fire. I shot to my feet and front-flipped off the roof right as hundreds of dust rounds tore it apart. Using may aura to cushion my landing, I looked up to see a kicking Ruby being dragged next to the still unconscious Yang towards a building across the plaza while the entire crowd charged me with rifles, swords, knives, bludgeons, and many other types of weapons. I pulled my sheath off my back to use it as a quarterstaff and prepared for the impending clash.

The first guy swung a short-sword vertically at me, but I spun to the side and cracked my staff on his face while blocking a ax with the other end. Not wanting to lose momentum, I followed through with the spin and hit two more in the face. They fell to the ground, clutching broken noses and tripped several other faunus. Hearing the sound of a gun cocking, I teleported a few feet backwards right as the guy hold a SMG behind me opened fire right into the group in front of him. Twirling the staff in my hands, I smashing it against the back of the SMG wielding Faunus while simultaneously cracking it against two more that were trying to sneak up on me while I had my back turned. I began to spin around again to face whoever was next, but felt my chest and shoulder explode in pain. I fell to the ground holding my now cracked ribs and bleeding left shoulder where a bullet had sneaked through the break between my shoulder and arm guard. I gritted my teeth and looked up to see some Fang member wearing a cocky grin about to cave my head in with a sledge hammer.

He raised it above his head and began to swing down, "Don't kill him yet!" But the command of someone made him stop the hammer an inch above my head. Some faunus stepped out from the crowd and got down on one knee next to me, "You've caused quite the stir in the Fang with your desertion Mr. Kadar." The crowd started murmuring to each other, just know realizing who they were attacking, "You're lucky I got here when I did or you'd be dead." I stayed silent, pushing down whatever comment was making its way out of my mouth. The guy in front of me just shook his head amused as he pushed my mask and hood off me, "Alright listen here. We're going to cuff you and throw you in with your little buddies in the cells. Now, how easy you let us do it will dictate whether you get medical treatment or if we leave this bullet, " he pushes his finger against the wound a bit causing me to hiss in pain, "in and let it get infected."

I spit in his face and snarled, "I've already tried the whole captive thing, not a fan."

"Well," he sighed as he wiped the spit off his face and fixed his shirt, allowing me to see his badge that signified him as a Tracker, a member of the White Fang's feared search and destroy cell, "I'm afraid you don't have much choice in the matter. You see, the good doctor has been very clear with his message of wanting you alive. He's been mighty curious to see how his favorite test subject has been faring." My eyes widened in fear. I tried to quickly stand up but only received a kick to the ribs which knocked me back to the ground. The tracker grinned maliciously as I coughed up some blood due to a punctured lung, "I'd stay down if I were you. While the doctor said he wanted you alive, you know from first hand experience that he can just heal whatever wounds you show up with." I gritted my teeth but otherwise remained silent, cursing the White Fang's head researcher to the nine levels of hell.

The Tracker placed his boot on my already throbbing chest and leaned in over me to whisper, "You better hope the doc only wants you kid. Who knows what he'll do to your little friends." He stepped off my chest and allowed me to breath properly and addressed two guards behind him, "Throw him in the cell next to his filthy human friends." He started to turn away but stopped himself as he pulled two things out of his pack, "Oh and be sure to put this collar on him and inject him with this. It'll keep him…controlled." He passed an aura suppressing collar and syringe to the guard, "His little semblance would allow him to escape otherwise." He then turned back to me, "Don't try to escape. I'll be forced to track down your pretty little teammates and toss them in lockup back at base. And some of those guards have been out there a very long time and you don't what something happening to them do you?" I snarled as I tried to beat the crap out of the guy for even considering something like that but only received a knee to the stomach. He, and several others, just laughed as he walked away leaving the two guards to handle me.

The first guard yanked my sword, bow, and armor off me, leaving me in the dark underlayer as the other roughly yanked me to my feet. They shoved the collar around my neck and injected the syringe into my neck before we began the march to the cell. I tried to stay stoic, but as I looked up I started having flashbacks. Just like when I was led to the stage for the first time all those years ago, the Fang lined the path I was to take. Each hurling insults, small stones, and whatever food came to hand. Someone threw a stone the size of my fist at my shin, causing me to fall on my chest, further damaging it. I received a kick to the face from someone before being hauled to my feet again. I glanced up at the building that housed the prison cell and caught sight of two set of wide eyes staring at me from a barred window. One set was silver while the other was lilac, but both were full of tears as they witnessed cruelty I faced day in and day out for nearly four years. I bowed my head in shame, not wanting Yang or Ruby to see me like this, but I had no choice as I was shoved through the door of the building then into a cell not far from it.

I landed on my stomach and cried out in pain as I felt two ribs completely break. The guards slammed the cell door shut and stood guard outside. I tried to get to my knees but was unable to due to the grating of bone on bone in my chest. I sharply rolled myself onto my back to breath easier. I made it, but that caused pain to shoot through my body yet again, something I'm sure I'm going to become very familiar with in the next several hours.

As I closed my eyes, I suddenly became aware of what else was in the room with me, "-avian! Davian please answer me!"

I weakly rolled my head to the side to find Ruby and Yang pressed against the cell adjacent to mine with tears constantly streaming down their faces several feet away. I numbly nodded my head, "Yeah, I hear you." I spit some blood out of my mouth, "Are you two hurt?"

Yang banged her fist against the bars separating us, "To hell with that! How hurt are you?!"

I shook my head as I slowly crawled towards them, using my legs as much as I could, "Doesn't matter, I've dealt with it before. Did they hurt you?"

Ruby shook her head, "You're hurt worst than us Davian, just stay still!"

I ignored her plea as I continued to slowly inch my way towards them, "And I asked if they hurt you."

Realizing I wasn't going to stop, Ruby wiped her eyes and sniffled, "Nothing that won't hamper movement to much."

I nodded my head as I came to rest by them, "Good, good." I breathed out laboriously, "I'll figure something out, don't worry."

Yang shook her head as she tried her best to wipe the blood off my face with what was left of her scarf, "Safe your energy, let Ruby and I worry about that."

"I'm not going to just lay he-" my sentence was interrupted by a fit of coughing that racked my aching body with a piercing pain from my broken ribs.

Yang held me down so I wouldn't sit up and damage my chest any more than it already was, "Davian please, just lay still. I don't want you getting hurt any more than you already are. You're having trouble moving, hell you're having trouble just breathing!" Yang started babbling as she tried, and failed, to keep calm.

I bit back a pained groan that was trying to escape as I started sitting up. Yang and Ruby tried to keep me down, but I pushed on and eventually got to me knees in front of them. I reached up and wiped the tears off their faces, "I'll find us a way out of here, okay. I'm not going to let them touch you."

They both stared at me for a few seconds before nodding their heads. I pulled myself to my feet using the bars as support and began looking around while I started pumping the smallest amounts of aura throughout my chest. During my time as a prisoner, I found that while the collars stopped any large transfer of aura throughout the body, it couldn't stop everything and you were able to slip the smallest amounts through. So if I did that constantly for the next two or three hours, I should be able to at least heal the broken ribs to something just above broken, still cracked, but not broken. The bullet wound was another matter altogether. The bullet hadn't passed through completely due to its small caliber. So while that meant I wasn't losing blood at a quick pace, it also meant that I couldn't close the wound because I'd seal the bullet inside my shoulder. Taking Yang's scarf that she had pressed up against the hole, I tied it tightly around my shoulder to stem the bleeding the best I could. Other than that, I couldn't do anything else for it so I focus on healing my ribs.

Over the following couple hours, I slowly but surely healed the bones in my chest while I went over the cell inch by inch. The window was a no go. Not even counting the fact that I wouldn't be able to break the bars, it was in plain view of the entire plaza and every Faunus in it. I instead focused on the room I was in. Looking for fractures in the concrete that might suggest a weak point, or a extremely rusty part of the bars that I could snap with enough force. But it all was to no avail. While the entire city might be a crumbling ruin, the Fang fixed up any building they were using so well that the cell might as well of been brand new.

I sighed in frustration, my ribs now healed enough for me to breath without extreme pain. Having only one option left, I glanced over to find Yang holding Ruby in her arms protectively while they both slept. I closed my eyes and focused. Feeling the-PAIN! That's the only thing I could think of at the moment. PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN! I collapsed to the ground screaming as I clutching my chest as it felt like my veins suddenly flooded with fire. Yang and Ruby shot awake as I rolled on the ground.

Ruby sat there covering her mouth and wide eyed as she helplessly watched me convulse in agony on the cell floor. Yang was a bit more vocal, "DAVIAN! DAVIAN WHAT'S WRONG?!" She tried reaching for me, but I was lying to far away. The only thing I could comprehend at the moment was someone yelling in the background, but sounded too far for me to make out the words. Next thing I knew, I was lifted into the air and carried out of the cell, the voice getting more and more distant but increasingly pleading before disappearing altogether.

Through my pain fogged mind I felt myself being set down before something pierced the skin of my neck. Not even a second afterwards, the fire in my veins were overpowered by a flood of ice. But even though the pain had quickly subsided, I couldn't really think straight at the moment. As I lay there staring at the ceiling, I felt someone pat my shoulder, "That should at least help a bit kid. I was told to give you that if you started a-scream'en and shaking violently." Thoughts started making their way through my brain again as I slowly turned my head to look at my captor. When I saw him, a chuckle somehow escaped my chest as I saw the wolf ears resting on the head of the man standing in front of me. He raised an eyebrow at that, but kept quiet otherwise. After another minute or so, he started talking again, "Don't know what they injected ya with before coming in here, but it sure stopped whatever you were trying to do." I remained silent, still drained from my episode. Undeterred by my silence, he walked over to the other side of the room and set some things down on the table next to…a corpse with short gray hair? Not even acting like anything was wrong he continued talking, "Must of been something right awful to cause that much pain but what do I know?" The man gave the body a once over before writing something down a piece of paper. Silently walking over to me and laying it next to my head, he walked back over to the body and picked it up, "Well, I better get you back to your cell. We'll be move'n out in an hour and a half so you better be ready when we do."

With that he opened the door and walked out with the corpse, leaving the door ever-so slightly ajar and me alone on the table. Getting over the shock of the situation quickly, I started moving each muscle in my body to find how much I could move. Surprisingly I felt no pain. Whatever he injected me with must of been a huge pain reliever. So now that feeling had returned to my body. I silently picked up the paper the man left by me. It read, **Stay quiet, listening devices in room - Locker combo is 07-09-17 - In it is your weapons and armor along with your friends stuff - As quiet as possible, grab the gear, inject yourself with one of the stimulants in the locker - When clock strikes 7:00, the cameras in the building will set on a loop for five minutes - Grab your friends and leave through back door - Your other friends are going to attack not long after - Good Luck**

 **\- A Fellow Hunter**

Folding the paper silently, I got to my feet and made my way to the locker. I input the code (Thank Oum it was a silent key-pad) and opened it. Sure enough, inside was all our gear in piles along with three syringes. I grabbed one and injected it into my thigh, almost immediately feeling energy course through my body. Glancing at the table I found two keys, one electronic and the other normal. Reaching up to my neck, I probe the collar until I feel a square slot that matched the size of the electronic key. Nodding my head, I put everything into a bag that was in a locker along with the note before glancing up at the clock which showed 6:59. Padding quietly over to the door, I slipped out once the clock struck seven and quickly jumped beneath the camera fulling expecting some alarm to go off. But none did. However this Hunter was, he was an expert at infiltration.

Now that I was away from the listening devices, I slipped the electronic key out of my pocket and inserted it into the collar. With a quiet beep, the light on the side went from green to red and it unclipped. Slipping the collar into the bag, I quickly but quietly made my way back to the cells. As I drew near, I heard the sound of sobbing. Quickening my pace, I peeked around the corner to find Ruby hiding her face in Yang's shoulder while they both wept. I looked into my cell and found the body the Hunter had carried out lying in the center of it with its back towards the girls so they wouldn't see the face. I quickly glance out the front doors window the find the guards gone but everyone else in the plaza didn't seem to notice. Setting the bag down and taking out the syringes, I walk up to the girl's cell and unlock to door with the other key.

At the sound of the door opening the girls turned their heads to look and their eyes widened in shock and confusion when they saw it was me. Before either of them could cry out, I pulled them into a hug and whispered into their ears, "I'm here, I'm here. We don't have much time. Inject these and follow me as quietly as you can. Okay?" Both of them nodded their heads. Once the stims were doing their job, we all stood up and headed back towards the hallway. I grabbed the bag and as we walked I passed the girls back their weapons, ammo, the necklace I had gotten Yang, and Ruby's cloak. Both girls smiled as they received those last two back but remained quiet as we reached the back door. Silently, I cracked it open to find an empty alleyway blocked off by crates from both sides. Pulling the girls out, I closed the door right as 7:05 rolled around and the cameras came back online.

Not ten seconds after, I heard the sound of yelling coming from the plaza. I teleported up to the roof to get a better view while the girls took the ladder. I crawled to the edge of the roof and looked down over the plaza to see several armed guards about the breath the door. Or at least they would have if it wasn't for the giant explosion that rocked the entire cavern a couple hundred yards away. Completely forgetting about us, every guard in the area charged back to the wall to repel whoever was attacking them. Yang crawled up next to me along with Ruby, "What's going on?"

I smirked as I nodded at the green blur that was knocking out Faunus left and right by the entrance, "The Fang just learning how dangerous a coffee addicted Huntsman can be." We watched as Oobleck, Blake, and Weiss tore through any Fang member in their way. Not long after the initial attack, the entire White Fang force in the plaza fell back, giving us time to regroup.

I grabbed Yang and Ruby's and teleported down to the ground. The rest of our team turned around with their weapons as the ready but lowered them and rushed over when they saw it was us. Weiss and Blake imminently began looking their partners over for any injures while Oobleck walked up next to me, "Mr. Kadar, how badly are you injured?"

I waved my left hand around the camp, "That's unimportant right now, the Fang are going to leave very soon due to our arrived. I running off a pain reliever and stim, but I'll be fine for the next two or three hours."

Blake pointed at the orange scarf that was being dyed crimson tied around my shoulder, "It won't matter how many stims you use. Losing to much blood will make you fall unconscious."

I held out my hand, "Them pass me some gauze and the disinfectant spray and I'll properly wrap it so we can get moving."

Weiss huffed as Oobleck pulled the items out of his pack before running off to scout ahead, "Why not just use your aura to heal it?"

I shook my head as I untied the scarf and sprayed the wound which stung quite a bit, "Can't, the bullet is still inside."

Blake winced, "That's going to get a lot worse before it gets better."

I shrugged as Yang tied the gauze in a knot, "We'll deal with that when it comes, but I should be fine as long as no one fucks with my shoulder anymo-" I was interrupted by the sound of gunfire and yells coming from the direction Oobleck disappeared. The girls readied their weapons while I pulled the dagger out of the bottom of the sheath and held it backwards in my left hand so to not agitate my right shoulder.

Sprinting in the direction of the noise, we turned the corner in time to see Oobleck finish knocking out a squad of White Fang that had been falling back. He collapsed his weapon back down to his thermos and took a swig of what had to be the weirdest coffee ever, "Ah, glad you five decided to join me. The White Fang seems to be falling back to the old tunnels, we must hurry if we are to catch them."

With that he zipped off in the direction of shouting without even waiting for an answer from us. We all just shook our heads and took off sprinting after the caffeinated Huntsman. We arrived right in time for us to hear Torchwick over the intercom, "Get to your places, we are leaving now!"

All the White Fang in front of us stopped to look at each other for a second before turning around and sprinting to the train. Oobleck rested his thermos against his shoulder as he scratched his head, "Where are they going? Those tunnels only lead to a dead end."

Yang threw her hand in the train's direction, "Well wherever they're going they all just turned tail and ran away from us." She then chuckled to herself, "Ha, turned tail."

I shook my head as I ran after the Fang, "You can make all the puns you want after we finish this, but in case you didn't notice they're leaving!"

Realizing the train was starting to crawl forward, the others quickly ran after me as I jumped on the side of the caboose. The others hastily followed my example and climbed up after me. When we all were here Weiss and I began working on opening the top hatch to let us drop in. While we were doing that, Oobleck began giving us orders, "All right children we must get to the front and stop this train!"

Right at that moment, I forced the hatch open which revealed something that made my eyes widen. Weiss just looked confused and turned to ask Oobleck, "Um, professor?"

He leaned in very close to show his annoyance, "Doctor."

Weiss ignored that and pointed down into the hatch, "What's that?"

Oobleck looked into the hatch and calmly kneeled down, "That my dear…appears to be a bomb."

The girls jumped back in fear but after inspecting the device a bit I let out a relieved breath, "It's inactive, thank Oum."

Ruby sighed in relief as well but then looked up and pointed straight ahead with wide eyes, "We've got baddies!"

Oobleck stood up and dusted off his knees, "Well I didn't expect them to go eas-" * _VVVVRRRRRMMMM_ * All our heads shot back down to see the once inactive device now all lit up. The professor's shoulders sagged, "Easy on us." He stood up and took a sip from his thermos, "Time to go!" Once we all had jumped across to the next cart, Oobleck stopped Blake, "Blake, detach the caboose, it'll kill us all!" (In a far off universe, a young man in blue armor sitting inside of a tank just shot his…leader I guess would be what you'd call him)

Blake nodded her head, "On it!" As she jumped down between the carts, I pulled my bow off my back and notched a yellow dust tipped arrow and took aim at a group of White Fang charging us. Right as I was about to release, a giant explosion rocked the tunnel, effectively throwing my shot completely wide.

I quickly turned around to see a cloud of dust and dirt engulfing the tunnel behind us. Oobleck stood stock still as he watched the Grimm charge after us, "Oh that's not good."

"Uh, neither is this!" Ruby yelled out from the hatch on our cart.

Blake run up to look inside, "Another bomb!"

Oobleck glanced behind him one last time before something clicked in his brain. He ran past us muttering no over and over again as he forced open the next carts hatch. He turned back to us and yelled, "THEY ALL HAVE BOMBS!"

As he said that, their was a groan of metal as the cart we were on began to detach itself. Right as the girls and I jumped from our cart to the next, we all watched as the cart exploded. Yang stomped her foot in frustration, "This doesn't make sense!"

Any other comments were cut short as a bullet whizzed past Yang's head. I immediately pushed the girls behind the hatch of the cart and felt several more rounds strike the other side of our cover. Oobleck extended his thermos again as he turned to us, "Like I said before children, we need to get to the front of this train. Only now we're on a timer. Stay together, keep your heads level and we'll get through this with no pro-"

"Kadar, I gave you a warning of what might happen if you resist!" I peeked around the hatch and growled at the smug bastard sitting several cars down from us. The Tracker was leaning against an open hatch with his arms crossed, "I'll catch you again, I don't let my prey escape."

I gritted my teeth, "Told you already, I've done the whole captive thing and I'm not letting someone else drag me, or anyone else back to that place!"

Even over the howling wind I could hear the tracker break out into laughter, "AHAHAHAH YO-YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT BEING SOMEONE ELSE!?" He wiped his eyes before smirking at me, "How do you think I tracked you down so easily? I found you after all those years your traitorous parents sent you away." He then sighed, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to make good on that promise. Hope your team doesn't mind some company while they're under lock and key." Due to the wind, only those with faunus hearing could hear what he said. So while Oobleck, Ruby, Yang, and Weiss cocked their heads to the side in confusion, Blake looked at me horrified.

I just sat there staring. Staring at the man who took me away from my second family. The man who almost killed Yang then held a knife to her throat. THE MAN WHO THREW ME AT THE FEET OF MY TORTURER SMIRKING! Something in my mind flipped. I wasn't Davian Kadar, the kind forgiving man anymore. I was the monster the Fang created, and for once, I welcomed it. Growling not unlike the wolf whose blood ran through my veins, I pulled the dagger out of its sheath with my left hand. The growling reverberating from my chest drew my team's attention to me as I stood up. But before any of them could stop me I jumped over the hatch and charged the man that not only haunted my dreams for years, but was also the son of a bitch who dared threaten my friends and family. Ignoring the yells of Oobleck and my teammates, I used my semblance to dodged the bullets that were being rained down on me by the Fang, the same bullets that kept my team from running to my aid. The Tracker just laughed as he dropped back into the cart. Seeing him disappear, my anger rose as I continued charging. Unknown to me, the mist rolling off of me from teleporting went from gray to black and the iris of my eyes turned deep crimson. The changes were so sudden I didn't even notice them, but everyone else did. My teammates all peeked out in confusion from behind the hatch door when the bullets stopped. All they saw was a cloud of mist that went from gray to black half way between them and the Fang.

The faunas in front of me had a completely different view. What they saw wasn't a Huntsman in training. What they saw wasn't a man. What they saw was a shadow with two crimson eyes that stared at them with the deepest fury. Eyes that told them that they were about to meet the nightmare that their leaders created. Several of the green faunus dropped their guns and ran behind the more experienced members who weren't fairing much better. They aimed their rifles at me but were shaking so much that it was futile to aim. I stopped one car away from them and just stared. The air was tense, wind deafening, and fear thick. The faunus who had the unfortunate luck of being in the front only saw the eyes disappear in a puff of smoke. His eyes widened as he spun around trying to find where I had gone. He made a complete circle, and when he faced the mist again, his eyes locked with mine…and that was the last thing he ever saw.

As his head fell from his shoulder and the blood rained down upon me, I turned my eyes back to the crowd that had scrambled back at my sudden appearance and even more sudden murder. Most were trembling so hard they had dropped their weapons in terror while the ones that hadn't were barely holding on to theirs. I reached up and wiped some of the blood off my face and looked at it for a second. Some part of me wanted to be appalled at what I had just done, some small voice screaming at me in the back of my mind. That part of me didn't want to kill, didn't want to be the source of fear, but most of me didn't care right now. I looked back up at the crowd causing them to hold their breath, each one not wanting me to target them first. I flicked my hand, causing the blood to splatter onto the white uniform of the man I had beheaded, "You all wanted to be fear, believing that fear itself will never catch up with you." I held my arms out wide, "Well…here I am." And thus the slaughter began.

Jumping forward with my dagger raised, I swung downwards at the terrified deer faunus in front of me who hadn't moved an inch. Driving the dagger between his eyes causing blood to shoot out and cover the front of me. Yanking the dagger out, I let his lifeless corpse fall off train. The two standing to his left and right very quickly found their throats slashed before they could even move. Jumping back several feet as their bodies fell off the train, the soldiers stared in fear. After a few seconds, some half cocky, half terrified Fang recruit yelled at the top of his lungs and charged me with a small sword. The yell having shook the rest of the soldiers out of their shock, they all charged me hoping to overrun my defenses with sheer numbers. Rolled my neck as I sheathed my dagger, not wanting to end it too quickly.

I jumped over the first wave of soldiers and landed among the second. Rolling across the back of a bull faunus that was charging me with his horns, I punched another in the throat effectively crushing his windpipe. I sidestep to dodge a sword that smashed into the roof of the cart and snapped the offender's neck before ducking beneath the swing of an axe. Someone went for a thrust, but I grabbed his sword-hand to block another swing of the axe before twisting the hand making the owner drop his blade and drove it through his back. Growing bored, I pull my sword out of its sheath and begin slicing my way through the dozen or so White Fang that were left. I was a blur, slicing a stomach open causing the entrails to fall to the ground here, decapitating a head there. By the time I was down the the final three White Fang, the top of three carts were slick with blood.

The last soldiers started back up but quickly found they were at the front of the train with nowhere to go. Terrified beyond anything in his world, one of the faunus jumped off the side of the train screaming but was quickly silenced by the Grimm racing behind the train. The second desperately charged me with his sword but, almost too fast for anyone to see, soon found his arm sailing through the air, sword still in hand, trailing blood. I started walking towards the final faunus, slicing the throat of the second that had been screaming to the heavens moments before.

As I drew nearer I saw something that made me laugh. Standing before me was a very familiar faunus with boar tusks protruding from his mouth and wearing a mask that I'd recognize anywhere. Once my laughter got under control, I smirked darkly under my mask but he was able to see it in my crimson eyes, "Did you come all the way out here to see your favorite torture buddy again?"

His breathing doubled in speed when he realized I recognized him. He threw his weapon away before getting down on his knees and hands, "Mercy, mercy!"

I snarled as I threw my dagger, pinning his hand to the roof causing him to scream in agony, "Why, in the hell, would I do that?" I got onto one knee in front of him, "No, after everything you did to me, I won't show you mercy. You sneered, laughed, and enjoyed every moment of my torture." I ripped the dagger from his hand and held him up by his throat, "No, you won't get anything from me." Dragging him behind me, I walked over to the side of the cart and looked down. Slithering alongside the train was the biggest King Taijitu I had ever seen. Seeming to sense me, the snake lifted its head until it was waiting a few feet below the roof of the train. The boar faunus started struggling furiously when he realized what I was planning. Tightening my grip, I lifted him off his feet and dangled him over the edge of the train right over the waiting Grimm.

The man in my hands whimpered, "Please."

I chuckled darkly, "I seem to remember pleading you with those same exact words to you many times. Do you remember what you'd say?" He cried out as I drew him closer to my face, neither of us hearing the hatch behind us clang open. I stared at him mockingly, "You would laugh, and tell a child no older than fourteen, 'No…I might as well be your god. So I will choose your fate." My eyes hardened, "Well…I've chosen yours." With that I dropped the screaming faunus off the train into the waiting mouth of the King Taijitu below and watched as the giant snake fell behind as it stopped to enjoy its meal. I turned around as I lost sight of the snake only to stop when I saw the Tracker standing not five feet away from me smiling, as if he approved of my actions. Before I could even take a step forward, his body turned to ash and the wind carried him away allowing me to see what was behind him, or rather who was behind him.

Oobleck, Weiss, Blake, Ruby, and Yang stood rooted to their spot after seeing my cruelty. Oobleck just looked shocked, unable to believe his calm, kind student had just finished doing. Weiss had her own eyes screwed shut from where she was covering Ruby's so neither of them would see the blood, gore, and the heinous act I'd done. Blake looked appalled, wondering how I could be so cold-blooded. Yang…Yang's face was glistening with tears, trying to figure out if the blood-soaked figure in front of her was actually me and not some horrible allusion.

The black mist rolling off of me ceased to flow and the crimson fled my eyes, and for the first time in several minutes, that little voice, my voice, broke free of its bonds and screamed. Screamed at me for killing. Screamed at me for torturing. Screamed at me for becoming the monster I had swore to never become. The demon that terrified me every moment of my waking day or dreaming night. Before anything could be said, Weiss opened her eyes only for them to widen when she saw that the train was only seconds away from impacting against a concrete wall. Taking only a split second to realize I wouldn't have time to jump towards them or for her to create a big enough shield, she held back tears as she was forced to encase herself along with the others in a cocoon of ice leaving me alone on the train. Slowly looking to my right, I saw the wall not two seconds away. Closing my eyes, I suddenly felt weightless as the searing heat lashed across my body and charring any exposed skin. Even if I had the time or energy, my shame and fear would have kept me from screaming in pain. I deserved whatever retribution I received. But mercifully, something I had denied so many, my mind went dark as I landed…and I knew no more.

 **Alright, just over 7,700 words! Not bad if I say so myself. Yes that did just happen, and yes this is going to cause some major issues. With just one episode left in season two means we'll be starting a original story arc afterwards. How long it'll be I don't know. But once it's over we'll be starting Season three. The season that started off all happy and funny then completely crushed our souls…yaaaaay!**

 **IMPORTANT** **\- I know I was late with getting this chapter out (For good reason), but I don't know what my upload schedule is going to be for these next couple months. In April and May I have two AP Exams, the SAT, and the ACT that I have to do well in. So I don't know how much time I'll have to write. I WILL do my best to keep chapters coming out to you guys and gals, but I can't make any promises. I'm sorry. Well, that's all I have to say, please feel free to leave a review on how I'm doing or with any questions I have and I'll answer them if I can. Until then…**

 **Archangel Out…**


	18. Chapter 17 - One Last Secret

**ACT, SAT, HISTORY STAAR, AND TWO AP EXAMS ARE DONE! THAT MEANS ONLY FINALS LEFT TO GO! Alright, I'm SOOOOOOO sorry about the wait guys but like I said, the uploads were going to be sporadic at best with homework, testing, another 11,000 word Mythology Myth, and a kinda bad case of writer's block. I should have more time to write now but you never know how long Final Reviews are going to be, but I'll do my best. And a quick thanks to all of your for being so understanding about the upload speed. So moving on…**

 **The poll is now closed - Davian will stay with RWBY for this story. In all honesty, this is what I wanted to do, I just wanted to give you guys and gals some control of where the story was going. So thanks to all of you who voted.**

 **So you guys know how each character in RWBY has their own theme (I.e. Yang is** _ **I Burn**_ **and Ruby is** _ **Red Like Roses**_ **). Well, I've been waiting for this part of the story to reveal Davian's Theme.**

 ** _Monster_ by Imagine Dragons. One of my favorite songs. It's really an awesome, powerful song about being afraid and uncertain how you, and those around you will deal with the monsters inside of yourself. As we saw last chapter, this is something Davian struggles with.**

 **Time to respond to Reviews:**

 **Avatar Connor - "With what happened in volume 3...are planning on changing anything?"**

 **First of all, like the name man. My name is Connor as well. As for your question, you'll find your answer at the end of the chapter.**

 **With that over, let's get to why you guys came here…**

Pain is all I can feel, something I'm very familiar with by now and I accept with open arms as the flames consume me as a starved wolf devours a fresh kill. Feeling weightless as my feet leave the train I feel nothing but chaos…then nothing. Darkness engulfs my mind, and for once, I didn't fight or struggle. In the blackness I lay, my gaze stares into nothing as a single thought churned around and around in my head. I killed, but that wasn't what shamed my soul. No, what left me feeling vile was that I tortured. I took every evil action that was done to me and turned in on my enemies. Torture and killing for amusement, and now I'm no better than them. But worse of all…those I care most about saw my cruelty. There are many things that we never want to happen, things we don't want people to see. But no matter how hard we try, in the end it's all they can see. And now, no matter how hard they try, when they look at me they won't see Davian Kadar. Instead all they'll see is a monster who has been soaked to the bone in his victim's blood and deserves no pity.

Suddenly a bright ray of light pierces the darkness and lands right on my face making me squint. A few seconds later, another piece of the darkness is pulled away, then another, then another. Pretty soon I'm barely able to make out the silhouette of someone moving frantically. The figure looked over his or her shoulder and waved its arms at someone I couldn't see. Very quickly, a second silhouette joined the first and peered down at me. The first figure continued pulling away at the blackness while the second took a step back and disappeared from sight. Suddenly stopping and looker over its shoulder, the first figure jumped out of sight right as a large chunk of the of darkness was torn away.

Within seconds a small space around me had been cleared and the two figures were kneeling down beside me. I blink, trying to clear my fogged mind but I'm unable to. Shaking my head, a sharp pain shoots through my skull but is somewhat successful in restoring my mental function. Though I quickly wished I hadn't. The pain that had been pulsing throughout my body suddenly became much more apparent. Any movement caused waves of pain in every cell of my body. Feeling two hands hold me down, I turn my head and saw Professor Goodwitch kneeling down beside me whose mouth is moving but I can't hear anything except for a high-pitched ring. Blinking again, I turn my head as well as I can and catch sight of long golden hair cascaded around the person on my right alerting me to who it was. Looking up, I expected to see Yang's judging gaze glaring down at me, but it's not. She isn't even looking me in the eye. Instead her wide-eyed, teary gaze is glued on my chest. I try to sit up but am stopped before I could even move an inch and the pain became pure agony as something severely restricted my movement.

Confused, I tilted my head forward despite Goodwitch trying to keep me from doing so and saw what was weighing, or rather nailing me down. Coming out from my torso were two pieces of rubar that had punched right through my armor, me, then through my armor again and into the stone wall behind me. One was jutting out from my stomach while the second was a few inches shy of the center of my chest. I just stared, unable to comprehend my situation. As the pain continued to climb I should've realized several other things but was unable to. Like the fact that my mouth felt wetter than usual and tasted of metal. Or that I was coughing up an alarming amount of blood due to my punctured lung. I didn't realize that I was frantically trying to pull myself off the metal but Yang and Ms. Goodwitch were holding me firmly against the ground. And I definitely didn't see Yang pull her fist back and let it fall, knocking me back into merciful darkness.

 **-][-**

 **(POV Yang)**

 _Beep_ … _Beep_ … _Beep_ … _Beep_ …

It's been hell the last week, and I'm not even counting the mission that went beyond messed up. I shake my head as my gaze wanders up to the clock on the wall to find it's three thirty in the morning. Sighing bitterly, I look back down at the still, wrapped body in the bed in front of me. Reaching out, I cup Davian's bandaged face in my hand and run my thumb over where the scar would be that ran over his right eye. As the minutes ticked by I felt my eyes begin to water, something that had been happening a lot these last several days.

Clenching my fist, I sniff as I wipe my eyes and make sure Davian's bandages weren't turning red that would alert me to a wound or skin that had broken open again. As I check over all the gauze, I couldn't help the tears that escaped and flowed down my cheeks before dripping down, saturating the bandages. It's not fair dammit. He's been through so much more than any ten Hunters combined and deserves to have something go his way. But no, something else always rears its ugly head just to give an already downed man another kick, not understanding that he's already miles past his breaking point. A few more tears drop onto the bandages as I finish checking them over. I sat back down into the chair that had been pulled up next to Davian's bed. Unable to hold it back again, I press my forehead against his hand and silently weep. Several minutes pass before I feel a hand lightly rest on my shoulder my head shot off the mattress, hoping to see Davian awake, but am disappointed to see Blake standing next to me with Ruby and Weiss behind her.

She sighs sadly as she lets go of my arm, "Yang, please go get some air at least, you've barely left this room for two days."

I'm shaking my head even before she finishes her sentence, "I can't Blak-"

She crossed her arms and motioned at Davian, "He's not going anywhere and you know he'll beat himself up if you don't take care of yourself while looking after him."

I scowl at her, "I'm fine."

Ruby pushed in front of Blake, "No you're not!" She furiously whispered while tearing up, "Look at yourself, this not my big sister sitting in front of me!"

"What would you have me do!" I snapped at her making her shrink back, "You all saw what happened on the train." I glanced to my right at Davian and bite my lip in worry, "When he wakes up we don't know how he'll react once he realizes what he did." Looking back at my team I plead, "You all have to understand that wasn't our Davian on that train, there's no way."

Blake immediately nodded, "We know Yang, Davian was just so angry at what that Tracker said that he reacted in a way he didn't want to."

Weiss cocked her head to the side, "I didn't hear him say anything, what did you hear?" While we had been talking, we didn't hear Davian's heart monitor speed up.

 _Beep_ … _Beep_ … _Beep_.. _Beep_.. _Beep_.. _._

Blake shook her head, "I don't want to repeat it all, especially with Ruby here, but I did hear him say that he's the one tha-"

Suddenly hearing a sharp intake of ragged breath, we all spun around to see Davian trying to pull out the oxygen tube out of his throat. Grabbing his hand, I pressed him down with the other when he tried sitting up. Before any of us could say anything, a Doctor and Mrs. Klein burst into the room making Ruby, Weiss, and Blake jump back (Dragging me with them) as they rushed to the bed.

The Doctor held Davian down while Mrs. Klein tried to reason with Davian, "Mr. Kadar please calm yourself, you're only going to hurt yourself worse!"

I stared helplessly as Davian struggled less and less over several minutes eventually tiring himself out. Even though he was lying still, his heart monitor was still going a mile a minute.

 _._

The Doctor held three fingers in front of Davian, "How many fingers do you see Mr. Kadar?" Davian didn't answer as he stared blankly at the covers. "Mr. Kadar?" Somehow the beeping got even faster.

 _BeepBeepBeepBeep_

The Doctor glanced at the nurse and jerked his head in the direction of a cabinet on the wall. Nodding her head, Mrs. Klein quickly walked over and filled a syringe up with some sort of clear liquid. Walking back over, Mrs. Klein injected the needle into Davian's IV and he was out within seconds.

 _BeepBeepBeep_. _Beep_. _Beep_.. _Beep_.. _Beep_... _Beep_... _Beep_... _Beep_

The Doctor stood back up and stretched his back and sighed, "Keep monitoring his vitals and alert me when he wakes up again, I don't want to keep him under."

I tore my arm away from Blake and rushed back over to Davian, "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"

The Doctor sighed again, "He was just confused, a completely normal reaction when waking up after being injured that badly so we gave him a simple anesthetic."

"How badly was he hurt, no one's telling us anything."

The Doctor rubbed his face, trying to get the tiredness out of him, "We won't know exactly how bad until he wakes up and remains calm. The protrusion in his chest were, while dangerous, not what I'm worried about. It's the one that punched through his abdomen that might be a problem."

I started panicking, "How big of a problem? He'll live right!?"

Mrs. Klein put her hands on my shoulders, "He'll live, so don't worry about that."

"Then what's the problem?"

Mrs. Klein pursed her lips before looking at the Doctor who shook his head. He then looked at me, "I'm afraid we can't disclose that information until we know exactly what's wrong and Mr. Kadar signs off on you being able to view his medical information." I stared helplessly at Davian as he slept. The Doctor then started herding us out of the room, "Now your team is going to make sure you get some food and sleep." I started to protest but he held up his hand, "I won't budge on this matter Ms. Xiao-Long. I will not allow you starve yourself just to sit next to someone who won't wake up until sometime tomorrow afternoon. Go and get some food and rest, but you may not return until your leader assures me that you've done so. Am I clear?" I looked at the ground and nodded before Blake nudged me down the hallway towards the dorm. It was going to be a long couple hours.

 **-][-**

I fidgeted in my seat as I watched the minutes tick by so agonizingly slow. I had been forced out of Davian's room early this morning and haven't been allowed back in since. Though what had me fuming in my seat even more was that today was a Friday and Weiss had forced me to go to classes before Ruby would even think about letting me head back to the infirmary. At least we were in the final minutes of our last class.

During my staring contest with the clock Blake kept glancing at me from over the book she had hidden behind a textbook. Glancing at Ms. Peach to make sure she wasn't looking, she set down her book and leaned over, "He'll be fine Yang, Davian's a stubborn guy."

Sighing, my gaze never left the clock, "I know that Blake, I just want to be there when he wakes up. You saw how he reacted last time." I rub my face in indignation before slumping in my chair, "I need to get back there as soon as possible."

Feeling her poke me with her elbow, I glance at her out of the corner of my eye, "You have to rest Yang, you saw what happened when I was obsessing over finding the Fang." I start to open my mouth to deny the similarities but she held a hand up, "Yes this is the same situation, just the roles have been flipped on us."

I glare at her, "No it's not the same. The man you love isn't lying in a hospital bed with what could be crippling injuries while you can do nothing but wait for him to wake up. We can come back and compare notes when its Sun in Davian's position." I immediately regretting my words as soon as they left my mouth but I couldn't take it back. Blake stared at me, lips slightly parted as she processed what I just said. The bell rang, and before I could say anything Blake stood up and walked passed me. I reached out and tried to grab her arm, "B-Blake I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean-" She ignored me and pushed past a confused Weiss and Ruby without so much as a backwards glance. As she disappeared from view I slammed my head onto the desk and just lay there mentally kicking myself in anger, "Great fucking job Yang, flawless. She was just trying to help and you threw it back in her face."

"What happened?" I heard a Ruby quietly.

I turned my head on its side and looked at her, "Said something I regretted as soon as it came out of my mouth."

Ruby patted my shoulder sympathetically, "It'll be okay, I'm sure it wasn't that bad."

I slammed my fist on the desk as I stood up making Ruby and Weiss jump, "It was that bad! I practically told her I wish Sun was in Davian's place instead of him! I don't know about you, but that's messed up on so many levels."

Ruby took a hesitant step forward and put her hand back on my arm, "Y-You're just upset Yang, you didn't mean i-"

I shook her hand off, "It doesn't matter if I meant it or not! You don't say stuff like that no matter the circumstances."

Weiss crossed her arms, "Well you can't do anything about it now. Ruby signed off on you to go see Davian again. Just give Blake some time to cool off and then apologize."

I sighed, knowing nothing else could be done and walked out with a quiet thank you. Quickly making my way to the infirmary, I opened the door to Davian's room and saw Mrs. Klein checking over her patient. Without even looking at the door, Mrs. Klein acknowledges me. "I see your team finally signed off on you."

I quietly take my seat by Davian again, "How long until he wakes up?"

Mrs. Klein wrote something down on her clipboard as she shrugged, "Could be anywhere from within the hour to tonight. We'll just have to wait to see."

 _Beep_ … _Beep_ … _Beep_ … _Beep_ …

I nodded and for the next hour we fell into a comfortable silence. After a while I realized something. Looking back at Mrs. Klein who was sitting down in the corner working on something, "Why are you the one that's always caring for Davian in here? Doesn't the infirmary have several nurses?"

She finished whatever she was writing before setting down her clipboard, "I'm just his assigned nurse as is Mr. Klein."

 _Beep_ … _Beep_ … _Beep_ … _Beep_ …

I raised an eyebrow, "I don't know of anyone else who's been assigned personal doctors and nurses. And I didn't realize you were married to the doctor."

She smiled, "Twenty years. We met in Med-School and got married soon after graduation." She chuckled, "We couldn't believe it when Ozpin extended an offer to the both of us to work here. It's nice though, being able to work with your significant other." She finished, deep in thought.

I smiled softly, "That's nice, while it's not the same I get it." I glance over at Davian who twitching in his sleep signifying nightmares. I reach out and take his hand in mine which seems to calm him down somewhat, "We may not be married but Davian and I have known each other since we were little." I sighed, "He's soldiered through hell to keep myself and the others safe."

"You don't even know half of what he has endured." She said so softly I didn't hear her. Then sighing, Mrs. Klein stood up and stretched, "He should wake up soon and I gave him something that will help keep him calm. So between that and having you here he shouldn't freak out nearly as badly as last time." Again, the room became completely silent except for Davian's heart monitor.

 _Beep_ … _Beep_ … _Beep_.. _Beep_.. _Beep_.. _Beep_..

Mrs. Klein and I quickly turned back towards Davian has his monitor started beeping faster, but not even nearly as quick as it was going off this morning. Taking out a penlight, Mrs. Klein walked over to Davian and checked his reaction to light. Seeming to like what she saw, Mrs. Klein put away her light and then turned to me, "He should be completely awake in a few minutes. So while I go get the doctor you make sure he doesn't move any more than you can help. We still don't know the exact extent of the damage done so we don't want him opening any of his wounds again. Understood?" I nodded my head and she smiled comfortably, "Don't worry, if I've learned anything about Mr. Kadar it would be that he's very resilient."

I rubbed my face and sighed, "To stubborn for his own good is more like it."

Mrs. Klein chuckled, "That's just who he is. If you had the choice to change anything about him you know you wouldn't." With that she quickly walked out to find the doctor before Davian woke up. I just prayed for it to be calmer than last time.

 **-][-**

 _Scum_

 _Animal_

 _Traitor_

 _MONSTER_

My eyes shoot open but close immediately due to the blinding light all the while taking in deep, ragged breaths. Immediately my mind processed that, while I was in pain, it wasn't anything like it was before. The next thing I realized was that I lying in a hospital bed and my entire body felt restricted. Not like I was tied down, but as if my limbs were tied to rubber-bands.

I try sitting up but something keeps me pressed against the bed, "Stay calm Mr. Kadar, we don't want an episode like last time." I slowly open my eyes and blink several times to get used to the light. Eventually my vision clears enough to see the doctor shine a penlight into my eyes making me blink several times again. Nodding his head, the doctor mirrored what Mrs. Klein did not ten minutes ago, "Eyes are dilating well so no unhealed head trauma. How do you feel Mr. Kadar?"

I stared blankly at the doctor before traveling to the wall behind him as my memories slowly came crawling back one by one. When I had realized Ruby and Yang were missing in a Grimm infested city with a possible Fang presence, my mind had gone on autopilot, and only now did I fully remember everything that transpired. Jumping into a dark pit without hesitation. Traversing Mountain Glenn's undercity. Seeing Ruby and Yang as they were brought into the city. My capture and our escape. Then, "The train."

The Doctor slowly nodded his head, "Yes, you were in an accident while on mission. How do you feel?" I didn't hear him and continued to mumble quietly to myself, eyes darting back and forth on the wall in front of me like I was watching each memory on it like a movie, each one more grim than the last. The Doctor, looking confused, followed my gaze but saw nothing but the stark-white wall. He glanced at the room's inhabitants that consisted of Team RWBY, Ozpin, and the nurse.

Ozpin looked closely at me as I continued to mutter to myself, "He's remembering what happened, give him time."

Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang were waiting anxiously as I continued to sift through the images, all worrying what would happen when I realized what had been done by my hand. All this went without my notice, but the girls could tell the moment I saw the first drop of blood fall. My body froze, lips slightly parted, and eyes darted left and right as I watched bodies drop, blood spill, and terror within every man and woman that fell to my blade. Then came the moment I met my tormentor, and I couldn't believe my eyes. I didn't just kill him, I mentally tortured him before throwing him into the waiting mouth of a King Taijitu without a moment of remorse. But my shame wasn't from any of the killing or the blood that soaked my clothes. No, the worse part was that the girls stood right behind my bloodied form as I mercilessly tortured my torturer.

Everything after that was a blur. Fire, chaos, and pain followed by nothing. As I continued to process what I had done, Ozpin took a final sip of his coffee before turning to the Doctor, "I shall return when Mr. Kadar is more stable. Until then I leave him in your care." Getting a nod, Ozpin turned and walked towards the door before stopping to address RWBY, "You four will be excused from the rest of your classes, I think it would be for the best."

The girls thanked the Headmaster and silently found different spots around the room to sit down. After a few more seconds of silence the Doctor sighed as he turned to Yang, "See if you can get him to talk at all, and if you do make sure to have him tell you if anything feels wrong." He glanced at his watch, "I need to go check on some other patients, excuse me."

The girls watched the Doctor walk out of the room before looking back to find me just staring at my hands, and while the girls saw nothing on them, I couldn't help but see them soaked in crimson blood. Half an hour crawled by while I did nothing but stare and think, completely ignorant of Ruby and Yang trying to draw my attention away from the memories.

Eventually, somewhere in the back of my mind, I felt someone tug on the sleeve of my gown, "Davin please, talk to us." Slowly coming out of my trance, I slowly looked to my right. Ruby is staring at me with watery, pleading eyes. Weiss has her hand on Ruby's shoulder, trying her best to be supportive. Blake isn't much different from Ruby other than she isn't getting teary eyed. My eyes wandered the rest of the room but couldn't find the mane of golden hair that I took great comfort in. As my gaze began falling back to my hands, I felt something tighten around my lower torso. Looking down, I saw arms of porcelain skin wrapped tightly around me and only now realized that my shoulder felt damp. Turning my head slightly, I saw Yang's face pressed against my shoulder as she silently comforted me.

Willing away any images of blood or death, I slowly reached behind myself and nudged Yang. Tightening her arms, Yang presses her face deeper into my shoulder to avoid looking at me. My eyes drop to the sheets in sadness, unsure if she's angry or afraid, and I don't know which is worse. Sitting up straight, I turn my torso enough and, to everyone's surprise, lift Yang. Setting her down in front of me I try to look her in the eye but she still kept her gaze glued to the bed, much like how I'd been the last hour. I reach out and put a finger under her chin to tilt her head up, finally allowing me to see her eyes. Not angry, disgusted, or horrified. Instead they were sad, uncertain, but most of all…loving.

I bowed my head in shame and sighed, "I'm sorry. I know that doesn't change anything, but I'm sorry."

Yang remained silent and just stared along with the others. Movement in the corner of my vision caused to me turn and see Blake moving to the end of the bed, "What happened on the train Davian, that wasn't you? You don't get enraged like that, you don't feel the need to…kill."

Even before she finished speaking I was shaking my head, "You couldn't be more wrong. I get beyond angry, enraged even, more than you think. It just happens to be the one thing I'm good at keeping internal…or at least I thought so." I chuckled bitterly, "Guess the Fang finally brought out that monster they were trying to expose."

Silence reigned king in the room before a shuffling came from behind Weiss and Blake making the girls look behind them and step to the side to reveal Ruby nervously messing with a bundle of dark cloth. Taking a deep breath, she held the bundle out towards me with a look in her eyes that was somewhere between determined and highly annoyed, "You aren't a monster, you never were and never will be. You're Davian Kadar, cherished member of Team RWBY, my sister's boyfriend, and my older brother in every way but blood." She set the bundle down on my lap and pointed a finger in my face, "Just because you stumbled doesn't mean we'll let you fall." Ruby stomped her foot emphasizing her point, "A family is supposed to take care of each other and you've done more than enough of that. So now it's our turn to return the favor and take care of you when you need it most."

The girls all stared widely at Ruby before a sigh drew their attention back to me. I shook my head, "You don't understand Rubes," I pulled my gown to the side to expose the patchwork of scars causing the girls to go pale, even Yang who'd already seen them, "you have no idea what the Fang did to me." Ruby looked petrified as her eyes traced each scar, incapable of understanding how someone can hate enough to cause this. I let my gown fall back into place, "I want to move on, but I can't. I want to forget and sleep peacefully, but I can't. I don't want to kill but…" I clenched my jaw as I tears came to my eyes, "The worse part is that I don't feel a shred of shame for what I did. The only shame I feel is from the fact that you four had to see me kill, and that scares me."

"Y-You do-don't regret doing what you did?" Blake stuttered.

"No, I don't," I point out the window towards downtown Vale, "they were planning to, and succeeded in running a train into the heart of Vale fully knowing they'd lead the Grimm right there. And while I do wish I hadn't killed, I do not feel shame for doing so. I will not allow people to get away with that kind of pain just to do it again somewhere else." I sigh as I looked out the window, "I'm sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear but that's how it is."

Silence fell over us again before Ruby stepped in front of my bed with her hands on her hips, "We all have things we don't like about ourselves. Blake has trust issues, Weiss is all haughty, Yang doesn't think before she acts sometimes, and I have zero social skills."

This earned Ruby a "HEY!" from Weiss and Blake.

I stared Ruby in the eyes, "I don't know if I should be concerned or thankful you don't care."

Ruby smiled cheerfully, "Go with thankful, it'll save you a beating from Yang."

I stared blankly at her before looking down at the folded bundle on my lap. Picking it up, it unraveled to show a new cloak very similar to the one on my first set of armor. Black as the void and tattered at the bottom, it looked exactly the same, except for one detail. On the back, about the size of a plate, was a white moon with a gray wolf head silhouetted in front of it howling. I smiled slightly as I looked back up at Ruby, "Who are you and what happened to our little, naive, adorkable leader?"

Ruby went red and traced circles on the floor with her foot, "We-well I-I mean I thought I-I did okay."

Weiss rolled her eyes good naturedly, "Well it sounded inspirational until you stomped your foot and started stuttering like a child." Weiss then turned back to me and waved her hand dismissively, "It doesn't matter what we think . You're one of our teammates and will be treated as one.

Blake elbowed her in the side, "What she's trying to say is that we know you're a good person Davin, nothing will change that." I close my eyes and sigh, believing I didn't deserve any kindness they gave, "Your team cares for you deeply, all you have to do is let us in." With that I hear the click of a door making me open my eyes to find myself alone in the room…almost.

Now that the others were gone, I realized that Yang hadn't said a word the entire time and had just been staring at me. Emotionless lilac eyes stare into blank sapphires. The silence was broken with a slap making my head turn sharply to the left and for my cheek to sting, "That's for almost dying." My head turn sharply to the right as another slap landed itself on my left cheek, "And that's for lying when you said you had told me everything the Fang had done to you." I turned back to face her crimson eyes, cheeks stinging with a red hand-print decorating each, "One…last…chance. What the hell did those bastards do to you?"

Eyes falling to the scars criss-crossing my arms, my mind reaches back into my mind to find the memories I had stuffed into the darkest corners possible. Yang, thinking I wasn't going to answer, started getting to her feet with tears in her eyes. As her feet almost touched the floor, my hand shot out and grabbed her arm. Turning back to look at me as I let go, I reached down and pulled the gown off my torso once again, "Look."

Yang looks, and again finds the evidence that knives, fire, tools, and rocks had left in their wake. She wipes her eyes, "What am I supposed to see?"

I pointed to a spot at the base of my neck. Looking closely, Yang saw a scar that were almost unnoticeable beneath all the others. While the rest were thick and jagged, this one was small, light, and precise. Her eyes follow it down to mid-chest only for it to split into three separate directions. Two trail back up to my shoulder joints while the third continues down and ended a few inches under my navel forming a large y-shaped scar. Yang's eyes widened as she finally understood, though she immediately wished she hadn't. While every other scar was made by weapons or instruments of pain, these were made with a surgical precision.

Her eyes shot back up to meet mine once again, though this time the red was missing to be replaced by a distressed gray, "Th-The-They-"

I nodded my head, "The patient needed to be willing or uncaring, so I fought, and struggled for so long." Yang just stared, but I didn't need to hear the question she was asking herself, "Every person has something that breaks them, and they found mine."

"Wha-what did they do?" Yang asked quietly, afraid of hearing the answer.

My head fell forward, allowing me to stare at my scarred arms, "First they dragged in my father and mother and slowly cut them apart. Then Tai, and they did the same thing. I was horrified, but more enraged than broken. So they took it further." My fist clenched, "They knocked me out with something and I woke up later, but I wish I hadn't. Sitting, tied to chairs in front of me, were you and Ruby." Yang's eyes went even wider as she covered her mouth to stop a gasp from escaping. Tears begin flowing down my cheeks, "They…tortured and then killed both of you. The entire time the both of you were screaming, pleading for me to help you, but I couldn't, I was helpless." I couldn't hold it back anymore, the tears I had been trying to contain fell freely down my face.

Yang pulled my head into her shoulder and rocked us back and forth, "It didn't happen, none of it was real."

A shuddering breath escaped me, "It doesn't matter if it was real or not," I pulled my head back to look Yang in the eye, "what does matter is that it's what I saw. I know now it wasn't real, but at the time it was to me. I heard you and Ruby's screams, felt your blood splatter onto my face, and watched the life leave your body's." I sighed as I rested my face in my hands, "Can…can we talk about something else…please?"

Before Yang could reply, the door opened up allowing the Doctor to poke his head in. Upon seeing me functioning he stepped inside, "Ah Mr. Kadar, good to see you up and alert. Do you feel anything wrong that needs to be addressed?" I shook my head slightly, mind still stuck in the past. The Doctor's face turned serious, "Well, if you can walk properly then you'll be allowed to sleep in your own bed tonight."

Yang's posture became rigged with worry,"What do you mean?"

The Doctor pulled some X-Rays out of a folder and put them up on a light-board and pointed to my lower back, "The rubar in your abdomen nicked your spine when it punched through you. Can you feel your leg?" I nodded my head making him sigh in relief, "That's good news. If there is any damage then it'll heal, but you will need to use this regardless." He reached out the door and pulled in a wheelchair. My eyes dulled even more, telling the Doctor all he needed to know about how I felt about the situation. The Doctor smiled sympathetically, "Unfortunately this means no strenuous activity until I give the okay, no exception." He pushed it to the side of my bed and for the next hour meticulously checked over my entire body for any causes for concern. Finally, the Doctor gave a final nod, "We've closed all your wounds and done what we can, so I guess it'll be alright for you to go back to your dorm, though someone will need to be nearby until you're healed."

Yang's hand immediately shot up with a grin, "Oo dibs, I always wanted to play nurse."

The Doctor rubbed his face tiredly, "Very well Ms. Xiao-Long." He then motioned towards me, "Will you assist me get him on his feet?" Yang nodded her head and help me sit up. I swung my right leg off the bed followed by my left but at a much slower pace. The Doctor sighed, "I was afraid of that," I scowled at my leg as if it were to blame, "just exercise your leg every morning and night." He pointed at me, "That is the ONLY exercise you're allowed to partake in. Got it?"

I begrudgingly nodded my head as I lowered myself into the chair with a bit of difficulty, "Yes sir."

The Doctor 'hmed', "Be sure you do, or you get to know that chair a lot better than you'd like." He then turned to Yang, " I really don't want to say this but you're in charge of him Ms. Xiao-Long, do make sure he doesn't strain himself."

Yang gave him a two-fingered salute while smirking, "I'll make sure he's as comfortable as possible Doc, don't you worry."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, "I have every reason to worry due to the fact half of the people I get in here are your opponents from sparring matches." He then waved us out with a yawn, "Get out of here, my shift is ending in ten minutes and I'd like to get some sleep." With that Yang pushed me out of the infirmary, all the while trying to get me to speak again, but silence was her only answer as my mind sifted through all the memories once again. Normally my lack of attention would of earned me a whack on the head, but Yang saw my eyes darting back in forth in thought and decided to keep chatting, even though she knew there would be no answer.

 **-][-**

The sound of soft humming and a comforting warmth pulled me from my memories. Opening my eyes, I found myself resting in a bed with my head in Yang's lap as she ran her fingers through my hair humming while watching something on her scroll. I breathed out a sigh, alerting Yang to my wakefulness. Switching her scroll of, she continued to run her fingers through my hair but didn't say a word.

After a few minutes I closed my eyes with a sigh, "I'm sorry."

Even though I couldn't see her, Yang smiled softly, "You already apologized for what you did on the train. You weren't in your right min-"

"That's not what I'm talking about." I whispered out.

Yang tilted her head to the side in confusion, "For what then?"

I knocked my knuckles against my leg, "It seems every fight I get into that's not a spar ends up with my ass in the medical wing." I sighed again, "I'm apologizing for constantly making you worry."

"You don't do it on purpose, and most of the time it's for a good reason. The whole Anderson/CRDL thing at the beginning of the year was you protecting Velvet, and the whole ordeal at Glenn definitely wasn't in your control." Upon mentioning Glenn, Yang's thoughts slowed as she remembered something that she had forgotten about, "Speaking of that, how did that Ursa hit you that hard? You're aura isn't weak like you said."

My eyes traveled down to look at my chest, "It wasn't that weak, but after what the Fang did that has changed severely." I looked back up at Yang, "I was at full aura when that Ursa nailed me, but as you saw that one hit drained me to near nothing."

Yang's eyes narrowed in anger, though not at me, "What did they do?"

I got to my feet with a bit of difficulty and leaned against the wall, "Yang, as much as it pisses me off, freak is a damn good descrip-" Before I could even finish my sentence another sharp slap sent my vision careening as I lost my balance. As I was near to hitting the floor, I was thrown onto the bed as Yang and I switched places very quickly.

As I tried righting myself, my face was grabbed and forced to look up to meet a very pissed Yang, "Don't. You. Dare. Finish. That. Thought." I started opening my mouth but her glare shut it faster than the snapping of a lion's maw, "You have no right talking about the man I love like that because you sure as hell aren't him." She poked a finger hard into my chest, "You listen to me and you listen well. If you even start forming an idea like that again then do you know what I'll do?" She doesn't wait for me to answer, "I will pummel you into the ground, heal you up, then beat the crap out of you again. I will do this over and over again until I beat into your thick head that you are just as important to me as my sister and father. NOTHING will change that!" By now Yang's eyes are blood red and her hair is levitating due to the heat rolling off her body, "The next thing out of you mouth better be something positive or I will come through with my promise. You got that you overgrown puppy?"

"What are you _Yanging_ about? I'm a wolf, not a puppy." I said with a straight face.

Yang just starred, red eyes glaring and my eyes fell to the right as I started thinking it didn't wor- A snort drew my attention back to Yang to find a hand covering her mouth, trying to hold in the giggles that were trying to escape. I felt the corner of my mouth starting to curve upward as more and more giggles slipped through Yang's fingers as she tried to stay mad but was ultimately failing. Eventually she couldn't hold it back anymore and burst out laughing, holding her stomach as more and more laughter bubbled out.

After a few minutes of laughing, Yang stood up straight and wiped some tears from her eyes, "Tha-That was awful but I love it all the same!" She then stepped forward and smacked my chest lightly, "No fair, I'm supposed to be angry at you, not laughing at your attempt to get out of trouble."

I shrugged tiredly, "What can I say, you're prettier when you're smiling." I then stood up and stretched as I glanced at the clock to find it was nearing 11:00, "It's getting lat-OOMF"

Yang didn't let me finish as she playfully tackled me into the bed, "Great, let's go to sleep."

I tapped her shoulder, "Yang, your bed is in the next room."

Yang snuggled in close and rested her head on my chest (Making sure she squished something against me, making me blush lightly), "Yeeeeaaah buuut the Doctor told me to watch you closely," she tilted her head upward so I could see her grinning mischievously, "and what better way than to sleep in the same room." She finished her statement by pressing herself _just a bit_ closer.

I couldn't stop the blush on my face from deepening slightly, "Then I'll take the floor, I have sleeping mats."

"Nooooope." Yang said, popping the P, "You have to rest your back and sleeping on the floor will not help that." She then looked up with slightly narrowed eyes, "Don't you find me attractive?"

I quickly nodded my head, "Of course I do, but as much as Tai likes me, he will beat the crap out of me for sleeping with his daughter."

Yang grinned as she ran her hand across my jaw, "He's not here right now," her smiled sweetly, "but I am, and I will not take no for an answer." The unsaid threat was clear and I didn't argue any more. RFF (Righteous Female Fury) is not something I want to bring down upon my head. Taking my silence as her answer, Yang patted my cheek affectionately before laying her head back down on my chest.

As silence filled the room, I thought long and hard about what had transpired today. Yang and Ruby's capture as well as my own. Our escape. The train and its crash. Then the whole ordeal in the infirmary followed by Yang and I's talk. It was all too much, I had to get the answer to a question that had been burning in my mind.

I opened my eyes and found that I had shifted onto my side in though and Yang had pressed her back against my chest. I reach up and put a hand on her shoulder, "You awake Goldilocks?"

After a few second I felt her stir slightly, "Hm."

I breathed deeply, "Why do you do it?"

Yang twisted her body around and rubbed her eyes, "What do you- _*Yawwwn*_ mean?"

I trailed my hand up and down her arm, "Why do you put up with me? After everything that's happened. If anything I've hurt you more than make you happy."

Yang lightly smacked my chest, "Shut up you overgrown, whimpering puppy and go to sleep." She then sat up and stretched before leaning on one hand while looking me in the eye, "And you're wrong, you've brought more joy into my life than you know." She started tracing circles on my chest, "Back when we lived together you came off as the quiet kid who didn't know how to have fun, and in all honesty I thought that for quite some time. But then you started coming out of your shell and we started having the greatest adventures all over Patch in our years together. Then there's all the fun we had in the first semester of Beacon, but best of all was last Christmas when we finally fessed up to each other."

I lightly grabbed her hand and sighed sadly, "You left out how upset I made you during that first semester and how I treated you during Christmas break."

Yang leaned forward and planted a kiss on my lips, "And every time you more than make up for it." She kissed me one last time before settling back down, "Now you better go to sleep because tomorrows Saturday and we're all going down to Vale to relax for the day."

I through for a second before wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her close, "Yes ma'am." Thus we fell asleep, with one last thought going through my mind. I was out of secrets to tell. Yang knew of the pain I had endured, both physical and mental. She knew of the experimentation and didn't care what I was anymore than Weiss cared for professional wrestling. Sleep came easy, so sleep I did.

 **BOOM, bet some of ya didn't see that coming (Cheers to those of you that did :D). I did hint at what was done to Davian in earlier chapters besides the torture but didn't come right out and say it. Yes, Davian was experimented on and yes he's stronger because of it. We've even seen the product of his experimentation twice already and it's definitely deadly. But it does have its downsides, one in particular we saw in chapter 15.**

 **IMPORTANT** **\- I have to come out and ask right now guys. After watching the entirety of season 3…I don't want that to happen. I won't spoil what happens for those of you that haven't seen it but…it's to sad. So I'm going to start a pole (IT WILL BE OPEN THIS TIME) on whether I should keep season 3 the same or change it a bit. So cast your vote in the pole (Again, if you can't cast it in the pole then leave your vote in the review section).**

 **Aaaaaaannnnnnd done. Again sorry for the wait guys, but at least once I finish finals I'll have a bit more time to write. Leave a comment on how I'm doing as well as any chapter ideas you guys and and I'll see you guys and gals next time :) …**

 **Archangel Out…**


	19. Author Note (SO SORRY)

**POLL STATUS** **:**

 **Keep Season 3 the Same : 2 Votes**

 **Change Season 3 : 3 Votes**

 **I promised myself I would never do this because it always annoyed me when I see a new chapter but it turns out to be a Authors Note, but sadly I have no choice. Before you jump to conclusions, just now that "Remnants of a Friend" IS NOT BEING CANCELED. Unfortunately with how Season 3 ended up going, I'm not sure where Season 4 will end up. With how the poll is going I will be changing Season 3 a bit, but that makes some problems with uploading chapters. The thing is that I want my first story to follow Monty's vision as close as I can, but if I'm going to be changing Season 3 a bit, I need to see Season 4 first so I can not mess with the future plot to badly.**

 **So, as much as it pains me to say, "Remnants Of A Friend" will go on temporary hiatus until we see Season 4. I would do an original story arc like I did between Season 1 and 2, but with where we are in the story, that's difficult for me to do. Now, I may release a chapter here or there if an idea comes to me, but as of right now I'm having a case of writer's block for anything original and I don't just want to jump into Season 3 for the reasons stated above.**

 **So onto my next announcement. If you guys and gals are afraid that I will be dropping off the face of Fanfiction, then have no fear. After this announcement, I am leaving summaries for other story ideas and I want you guys to vote on which one will fill the space between now and the next chapter of "Remnants Of A Friend". I'm sorry if this has upset some of you and I hope you can forgive me and continue following my stories...**

 **Halo/Mass Effect**

When Cal-141 was killed in action during her mission with O'Brien's squad, she expected to pass into the next life. She closed her eyes feeling content. The mission had been a success. The ODST's had survived. Her brothers and sisters would continue the fight and drive the Covenant out of Humanities colonies. And when their time came, her family would join her in-a sudden sense of vertigo made Cal open her eyes in shock. Through her visor, she could see sky and tall grass surrounding her. Sitting up, her neck and shoulder groaned in pain as she look all around her. Confused as to where she is, what will Cal-141 do with a second chance in a second world?

 **RWBY/Dark Souls**

It was over. The Flame was extinguished, putting an end to the endless cycle of death and rebirth for all as darkness settles. But as the Firekeeper said, "One day, tiny flames will dance across the darkness. Like embers, linked by lords past." With a final sigh, the weight of his duty lifted, the Ashen One turned his back to the Firekeeper and sank his blade into the ground, forever her watcher throughout the darkness. "Ashen One, hearest thou my voice, still?"

 **I am excited to write these stories. I've played all three Mass Effect Games backwards and forwards and have done the same with Dark Souls 3. I hope you guys and gals are as excited as I am and I also hope these stories will slate your thirst for stories. Go and cast your vote on my profile for both this poll and the one for changing/keeping Season 3. Until next time my readers :) …**

… **Archangel Out**


End file.
